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SEYMOUR  DURST 


"f '  Tort  nieuw  ^imflerJan  oj>  Manhataius 


'When  you  leave,  please  leave  this  book 

Because  it  has  been  said 
"Sver'tbing  comes  t'  him  who  waits 

Except  a  loaned  book." 


^^^^^^^^^ 


^  >        ,  >    -  ^ 


Avery  Architectural  and  Fine  Arts  Library 
Gift  of  Seymour  B.  Durst  Old  York  Library 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2013 


http://archive.org/details/guidetocentralpaOOdurs 


CONTENTS. 


Paok 

PARKS  ELSEWHERE,   1 

THE  MOVEMENT  FOR  A  PARK  IN  NEW  YORK,  .  2 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GROUND,    .......  3 

EARLY  OPERATIONS  AND  IMPROVEMENT,  .  6 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  DESIGN,   8 

ORDINANCES,  REGULATIONS,  Etc* — OFFICERS  AND  KEEPERS,  .  15 

HOW  TO  SEE  THE  PARK— 

City  Cars,    .,.*...<..  1 9 

Carriages,       .       *       .       .       •       .       .       .       -  .20 

Horseback,   21 

Objects  of  Interest,        ♦       .        .        .       *  .  22 

General  Directions,     .                     #       «       *       -       *  24 


A  GUIDE 


TO  THE 


CENTRAL  PAEE. 


WiTii  A 


Hag  of  the  fropseb  1  mjjro tj emen ts . 


NEW  YOKE: 

A.  O.  MOORE,  AND  COMPANY, 
140  FULTON  STREET. 
1859. 


NH 

5 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1359,  by 
A.   O.   MOOR  E  &  CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


§>mh  to  tk  into!  Wmh 


•VTEAELY  all 
±\  of  the  more 
im  portant 
towns  of  Eu- 
|p/  rope  have 
W£a  places  set  a- 
'&  part  for  the 
amusement 
and  health- 
;  ful  exercise 
?m0^  of  their  peo- 

slF  ple-  Their 

number  and 


extent  bear  witness  to  the  necessity  of 
sJ^i^j    \  public  pleasure-grounds  to  all  dense  pop- 
ulations. 

^  \-\\  ^  The  pleasure-grounds,  in  and  about 
London,  comprise  over  6,000  acres,  in 
eluding  St.  James'  Park,  Green  Park,  Hyde  Park  and 
Kensington  Gardens,  lying  contiguous,  and  containing 
together  764TVo  acres.  In  the  last  two  of  these  is  the 
Serpentine,  50  acres  of  water,  in  which  12,000  persons 
sometimes  bathe  on  Sunday  mornings. 

Among  the  other  great  parks  of  Europe  may  be  men- 


2 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTEAL  PARK. 


tioned  the  Phoenix  Park,  in  Dublin,  containing  2,000 
acres  ;  Birkenhead  Park,  near  Liverpool,  of  about  500 
acres ;  the  Gardens  at  Versailles,  about  3,000  acres  in 
extent,  and  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  containing  2,158 
acres,  near  Paris.  The  Thiergarten  in  Berlin  contains 
over  200  acres ;  the  Prater  in  Vienna  about  1,500  acres  ; 
the  English  Garden  in  Munich  about  500  acres.  Mad- 
rid, Havana,  and  Mexico,  have  each  their  large  public 
promenades. 

MOVEMENT  FOR  A  PARK  HST  NEW  YORK. 

New  York,  in  its  haste  to  "build  up"  Manhattan 
Island,  had  well  nigh  forgotten  this  necessity,  until, 
in  1851,  public  attention  was  attracted  to  it  by  the  influ- 
ence of  Mr.  A.  J.  Downing,  and  the  well-timed  recom- 
mendation of  Mayor  Kingsland.  The  reference  of  this 
recommendation  to  a  committee  of  Aldermen,  their  favor- 
able report  thereon,  the  concurrence  of  the  other  branch  of 
the  Common  Council,  the  application  to  the  Legislature, 
and  its  passage  of  the  "Jones'  Wood  Park  Bill,"* — all 
within  less  than  one  hundred  days — afford  evidence  of 
the  earnestness  with  which  the  subject  was  prosecuted. 

The  superior  advantages  of  a  more  central  situation  for 
a  park  being  obvious,  authority  was  given  by  the  Legisla- 

*  This  act  authorized  the  purchase  by  the  city  for  a  public  park,  of  the 
tract  bounded  by  the  Third  avenue,  Seventy-fifth  street,  the  East  river 
and  Sixty-sixth  street,  embracing  about  150  acres  of  beautiful  woodland, 
but  lying  remote  from  the  centre  of  the  island,  not  easily  accessible  to  a 
majority  of  the  people,  and  possessing  inherent  disadvantages— such  as  the 
tall  and  slender  growth  of  its  trees,  which,  though  beautiful  in  a  mass,  would 
neither  look  well  nor  be  strong  enough  to  withstand  severe  storms  if 
thinned  out  or  "cleared,"  as  they  would  need  to  be  in  a  park.  This  law, 
however,  in  consequence  of  technical  errors,  was  never  carried  into  effect. 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


3 


ture*  for  the  taking  of  the  lands  of  the  Central  Park;  and 
in  February,  1856,  it  came  into  the  possession  of  the  city.f 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  GROUND. 

The  tract  taken  comprises  773  TVo  acres,  including 
about  142  acres  belonging  to  the  Croton  Aqueduct 
Department,  and  it  contains,  besides  streets  and  avenues, 
about  8,000  lots  (25  x  100).  Its  cost  was  §5,444,369  90, 
of  which  sum  $1,657,590  was  assessed  on  adjoining 
property,  leaving  $3,786,779  to  be  paid  by  the  city,  the 
money  being  borrowed  on  five  per  cent,  stock,  payable 
in  1898.  This  is  believed  to  have  been  the  largest  sum 
ever  expended  in  the  purchase  of  land  for  a  public  park. 
The  park,  as  its  name  implies,  lies  in  the  geographical 
centre  of  New  York  Island,  being  about  five  miles  from 
the  Battery  and  from  King's  Bridge,  and  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  East  river  and  from  the 
North  river.  It  is  about  two  and  a  half  miles  long,  and 
half  a  mile  wide,  being  long  and  narrow  in  form,  as  com- 
pared with  other  parks  of  equal  size,  and  affording,  con- 
sequently, less  opportunity  for  producing  breadth  of 
effect  in  its  treatment.  This  difficulty  is  increased  by 
the  broken  and  complicated  character  of  its  surface, 
which  caused  the  site  at  first  to  appear  exceedingly 
unpromising,  being  little  more  than  a  succession  of 

*  July  21st,  1853. — The  friends  of  Jones'  Wood  Bill,  on  the  same  day, 
secured  its  passage,  and  the  city  had  authority  for  the  purchase  of  two 
parks,  until  the  following  spring,  when  the  Jones'  Wood  Act  was  repealed. 

f  On  the  17th  of  November,  1853,  the  Supreme  Court  appointed  William 
Kent,  Michael  Ulshoeffer.  Luther  Bradish,  Warren  Brady,  and  Jeremiah 
Towle,  Commissioners  of  Estimate  and  Assessment,  with  reference  to  the 
lands  to  be  taken.  Their  award  was  made  July  2d,  1855,  and  confirmed 
by  the  court  on  the  5th  of  February,  185G. 


4 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


rocky  hills  and  marshy  plains,  much  of  it  covered  with 
a  tangled  growth  of  vines  and  bushes,  loose  stones  of  all 
sizes,  broken-down  stone  walls,  and  rubbish  of  all  sorts; 
while  much  of  the  cleared  space  had  been  occupied  by 
squatters,  until  it  reeked  with  accumulated  filth  and  nasti- 
ness. 

The  capabilities  of  the  ground,  as  thus  disguised,  wrere 
not  clearly  apparent,  but  every  month's  work  developes 
them  more  and  more  fully.  It  is  true  that  rock  abounds 
in  nearly  every  part  of  the  park,  and  that  its  trees  are  few 
and  far  between,  but  in  both  of  these  apparent  disadvan- 
tages there  is  a  decided  benefit.  More  labor  will  be  required 
for  its  construction,  and  more  time  for  the  development  of 
its  beauties,  than  would  have  been  necessary  on  more  even 
woodland,  but  the  superabundant  rock  is  not  too  much 
for  the  best  construction  of  the  roads  and  walks,  and  the 
lines  of  roadway  can  be  so  laid  as  to  give  the  best  ulti- 
mate effect  without  the  deviations  which  the  preservation 
of  numerous  fine  trees  would  have  rendered  necessary. 
The  New  York  of  the  next  century  will  have  occasion 
to  rejoice  over  that  which  now  seems  an  objection  to 
the  site  of  the  Central  Park. 

The  surface  of  the  park  is  broken  by  upheavals  of  pri- 
mary rock  (Gneiss),  and  its  soil  is  composed  chiefly  of 
diluvial  deposits,  in  which  are  many  boulders  (mainly 
trap-rock),  and  of  the  debris  of  the  Gneiss  rock.  Its 
lowest  point,  about  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  street  and 
Fifth  avenue,  is  only  nine  feet  above  tide,  and  its  highest, 
at  Seventy-ninth  street,  near  Seventh  avenue,  is  135  feet 
above  tide. 

The  park  site  was  watered  by  numerous  springs  within 
its  limits,  and  by  a  few  small  streams  which  take  their  rise 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


5 


west  of  the  park,  and  traverse  it  in  their  course  to  the 
East  river.  Much  of  this  water  formerly  remained  stag- 
nant on  the  surface  of  the  soil,  and  rendered  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  park  insalubrious. 

The  extreme  northern  portion  of  the  park  is  at  once 
the  most  bold  and  romantic,  and  is,  from  its  historical 
associations,  the  most  interesting.  The  deep  valley  by 
which  it  is  divided  is  "  McGowan's  Pass,"  of  Eevolution- 
ary  memory ;  the  road  which  now  passes  in  front  of  the 
Catholic  school  is  "  the  old  Boston  road,"  the  oldest  road 
leading  from  the  city,  on  the  east  side  of  the  island; 
and,  mainly  outside  of  the  park,  are  still  to  be  seen  the 
remains  of  the  north  line  of  fortifications  of  the  war  of 
1812. 

The  powder-house,  at  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  street, 
near  Seventh  avenue,  is  rebuilt  from  the  ruin  of  an  old 
redoubt.  The  land,  just  beyond  the  park  line  (between 
One  Hundred  and  Sixth,  and  One  Hundred  and  Tenth 
streets),  is  rich  in  historical  reminiscences,  and  should  for 
this  reason,  if  for  no  other,  be  added  to  the  park.  A 
moment's  observation  will  show  that  One  Hundred  and 
Tenth  street  is  the  natural  termination  of  the  park,  as 
the  large  hill  west  of  McGrowan's  pass  here  descends  to 
the  level  of  the  Harlem  plain,  while  at  One  Hundred 
and  Sixth  street  it  is  122  feet  above  it.  If  the  present 
boundary  be  maintained,  this  hill  will  terminate  in  a 
precipice  of  30  feet  between  Seventh  and  Eighth  ave- 
nues, while  McGrowan's  pass  will  be  shut  in  by  a  street- 
embankment,  40  feet  high.  The  proposed  extension  to 
One  Hundred  and  Tenth  street,  which  is  on  the  level  of 
Harlem  Plain,  will  add  to  the  area  of  the  park  69 
acres,  most  of  which  would  not  be  worth  the  cost  of  grad- 


6 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTEAL  PARK. 


ing  for  building  purposes,  and  which  is  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  the  park.  There  is  every  probability  that  the 
addition  of  this  tract  will  be  authorized  by  the  Legislature 
at  its  present  session.*  The  total  area  of  the  park  will 
then  be  843  TW  acres. 

EARLY  OPERATIONS. 

Under  the  direction  of  commissioners  appointed  by 
the  city  government^  preliminary  surveys  of  the  park 
were  made,  under  the  superintendence  of  Mr.  Viele,  for- 
merly an  officer  in  the  army ;  and  the  commissioners 
adopted,  for  the  laying  out  of  the  park,  a  plan  presented 
by  this  gentleman ;  but,  there  being  no  appropriations  for 
the  purpose,  its  execution  was  not  undertaken. 

On  the  17th  of  April,  1857,  the  Legislature  passed  "  an 
Act  for  the  Eegulation  and  Government  of  the  Central 
Park  in  the  City  of  New  York,"  which  placed  the  entire 
control  of  the  park  and  its  improvement  in  the  hands  of  a 
Board  of  Commissioners,  eleven  in  number,  J  who  were 
to  hold  office  for  five  years,  and  to  whom  was  given 
power  to  expend  a  sum  of  money,  the  annual  interest  of 
which  should  not  exceed  $100;000; — this,  at  six  per 
cent.,  would  be  $1,666,666,66 ; — the  amount  to  be  raised 

°  Since  the  above  was  put  in  type,  the  Legislature  has  authorized  the 
proposed  extension. 

f  This  commission  consisted  of  Hon.  Fernando  Wood,  Mayor,  and  Mr. 
Joseph  Taylor,  Street  Commissioner ;  and  they  were  to  have  been  assisted 
in  their  labors  by  the  following  gentlemen,  whom  they  invited  to  act  as 
an  advisory  committee :  Washington  Irving,  George  Bancroft,  James  E. 
Cooley,  C.  F.  Briggs,  James  Phelan,  Charles  A.  Dana,  and  Stewart  Brown. 

^  The  Commissioners  named  in  the  law  were  B.  J.  DLHon,  James  E. 
Cooley,  Charles  H.  Bussell,  John  F.  Butterworth,  John  A.  C.  Gray,  Waldo 
Hutchins,  Thomas  C.  Fields,  Andrew  H.  Green,  Charles  W.  Elliott,  Wil- 
liam K.  Strong,  and  James  Hogg. 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


7 


by  the  issue,  by  the  Common  Council,  of  stock  having 
thirty  years  to  run.* 

THE  PRESENT  IMPROVEMENT. 

By  order  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners,  the  work 
of  removing  obstructions  and  surface  water  from  the 
park  was  commenced  in  August,  1857,  and  on  the  25th 
of  the  same  month  they  passed  a  resolution,  offering,  for 
general  competition,  premiums  for  the  best  four  designs 
for  its  improvement.  On  the  first  day  of  April,  1858, 
there  were  presented  about  thirty  designs,  which  were  in 
conformity  with  the  specifications ;  and  on  the  28th  day 
of  April  the  commissioners  made  their  awards,  f 

The  design  of  Messrs.  Olmsted  and  Vaux  was  adopted 
as  the  basis  of  operations,  and  authority  was  given  to 
make  such  modifications  as  the  progress  of  the  work 
might  suggest.  The  introduction  of  a  bridle-road  is  the 
only  important  change  which  has  been  made,  and  the 
plan  appended  to  this  report  is  essentially  the  same  as 
that  to  which  the  award  was  given. 

The  execution  of  the  plan  may  be  said  to  have  fairly 
begun  about  June  1st,  1858 ;  since  which  time  there 
have  been  almost  constantly  employed,  during  favorable 
weather,  about  2,500  men  and  400  horses,  besides  a  large 
force  of  engineers,  foremen,  &c.  The  total  number  of 
persons  employed  in  all  capacities  has  been  about  3,000 

*  Tims  far  there  have  been  made  four  issues  of  stock,  amounting  to 
$900,000. 

f  1st  Premium,  ($2,000,)  to  the  design  presented  by  Fred.  Law  Olm- 
sted and  Calvert  Vaux. 

2d  Premium,  ($1,000,)  to  the  design  presented  by  Samuel  I.  Gustin. 

3d  Premium,  ($750,)  to  the  design  presented  by  Michael  Miller  and  L. 
H.  Mcintosh. 

4th  Premium,  ($500,)  to  the  design  presented  by  Howard  Daniels. 


8 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


The  total  amount  of  money  expended  by  the  present 
commission  up  to  January  1st,  1859,  is  $585,369,27. 
At  the  rate  at  which  the  work  has  progressed  during  the 
past  year,  the  park  would  probably  be  completed — ex- 
cept in  the  items  of  final  ornamentation — as  soon  as  the 
autumn  of  1860.  The  roads  and  walks  of  that  portion  of 
the  park  lying  between  Fifty-ninth  and  Eighty-sixth 
streets  will  probably  be  completed  and  thrown  open  to 
the  public  during  the  current  year. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  DESIGN. 

In  making  the  design  for  the  improvement  of  the  park, 
its  authors  seem  to  have  had  in  view  the  following  objects : 

To  so  provide  for  the  recreative  wants  of  the  whole 
people,  that  each  class  might,  as  far  as  possible,  suit  its 
own  particular  taste  in  the  matter,  without  interference 
from  those  of  different  tastes ; — 

To  afford,  in  the  arrangement  of  the  park,  the  most 
pleasing  possible  contrast  with  the  confinement  and  an- 
gularity of  the  city ; — and 

To  provide  for  the  transaction  of  business  between  the 
inhabitants  of  the  opposite  sides  of  the  city  (separated  by 
the  park),  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  inconvenience 
those  using  the  park  for  pleasure  and  recreation. 

In  the  attainment  of  these  objects,  their  design  is 
peculiarly  fortunate.  The  park  will  be  used  by  persons 
in  carriages,  on  horseback,  and  on  foot.  Comfort  and 
personal  safety  demand  that  those  adopting  each  means  of 
locomotion,  shall  be  enabled  to  proceed  without  coming 
in  immediate  contact  with  the  others  ;  while  the  gratifi- 
cation of  a  natural  pride,  as  well  as  of  ordinary  curiosity, 
suggests  that  they  should  frequently  be  brought  suf- 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


9 


ficiently  near  to  each  other  for  mutual  observation  and 
criticism,  and  occasionally  for  conversation. 

By  reference  to  the  plan  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Drive 
(D),  the  Bridle-road  (B),  and  the  Walks  (W),  are  separate 
and  distinct  from  each  other  (crossing,  where  it  is  neces- 
sary to  cross,  by  means  of  bridges  on  different  levels), 
while  they  frequently  run  so  near  together  as  to  bring 
their  occupants  within  close  observation  of  each  other. 
All  of  these  routes,  laid  out  on  easy  grades,  are  beauti- 
fully located  with  reference  to  the  surrounding  landscape, 
and  are  carefully  adapted  to  their  respective  purposes. 

By  an  examination  of  the  plan  in  connection  with  the 
site  of  the  park,  it  will  be  seen  that  not  only  are  its 
graceful  lines  in  contrast  with  the  formal  arrangement 
of  the  city  streets,  but  that  they  are  so  located  as  to 
afford,  as  much  as  possible,  rich  and  varied  views  within 
the  park,  while  they  are  secluded  by  variations  of  the 
surface,  or  by  plantations,  from  everything  beyond  it. 
The  park  is  intended  to  contain,  within  its: If,  every  at- 
tainable element  of  rural  or  ruro-artistical  beauty, — broad 
lawns,  and  ornamental  water;  plain,  and  hillside;  trees, 
and  shrubbery;  terraces,  and  fountains;  and,  in  short, 
every  thing  that  a  liberal  expenditure  can  compass,  to 
place  the  attractions  of  the  most  luxurious  country-seat 
within  the  reach  of  all  classes  of  our  population. 

The  provision  for  business  travel  through  the  park 
(from  one  side  of  the  city  to  the  other)  is  by  means  of 
thoroughfares  passing  under  the  pleasure  roads,  and,  in 
one  instance,  tunnelled  for  a  short  distance  through  a 
rocky  hill.  The  visitor  to  the  park  will  observe  that 
these  roads  (marked  T.  R.  on  the  plan),  while  they  are 
nearly  straight,  affording  direct  communication  between 


10 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


the  Fifth  and  Eighth  avenues,  are  neither  4  ditches,'  nor 
*  canals/  as  they  have  occasionally  been  termed  by  those 
with  whom  they  have  not  found  favor.  In  no  case  are 
they  below  the  grade  of  the  park  throughout  their  entire 
length.  Much  of  the  park  lies  below  their  level,  and 
there  will  be  no  obstacle  to  their  perfect  drainage.  They 
are  so  arranged  as  not  to  obstruct  the  views  across  the 
park,  and  not  to  cause  its  visitors  the  annoyance  of  en- 
countering business  traffic  in  their  pleasure  walks  or  rides. 
The  park,  at  night,  will  necessarily  be  closed ;  but  these 
thoroughfares,  having  no  direct  communication  with  it, 
can  remain  constantly  open. 

DETAILS  OF  THE  PLAN. — THE  MALL. 

The  chief  feature  of  the  park, — its  Hall  of  reunion, 
so  to  speak, — is  a  Mall,  or  broad  walk  (marked  M.  in  the 
plan),  two  hundred  and  eight  feet  wide,  and  one-fourth 
of  a  mile  in  length;  to  be  planted  with  four  rows  of 
American  elms,  and  to  be  covered  with  closely  kept 
grass,  except  for  a  width  of  thirty  feet  between  the  two 
inner  rows  of  trees,  where  there  is  to  be  formed  a  gravel 
walk,  intended  for  more  direct  promenading,  though 
visitors  will  be  allowed  to  stroll  on  the  grass  at  their 
pleasure.  With  the  requisite  facilities  for  lounging,  this 
will  be  one  of  the  most  popular  features  of  the  park.  It 
will  be  approached,  at  its  southern  extremity,  through 
an  ornamented  space,  or  vestibule;  and  it  is  to  ter- 
minate, at  its  northern  end,  in  a  ivaler  terrace  (T),  which, 
with  its  fountain,  will  be  ornamented  with  sculpture  and 
mosaic  pavement.  This  terrace  adjoins  the  principal  lake, 
and  is  but  little  above  it.  The  view  through  the  central 
aisle  of  the  mall  will  terminate  at  the  point  (K)  now  oc- 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


11 


eupied  by  the  bell- tower,  where  there  will  be  erected  a 
small  tower  of  rude  masonry. 

THE  DRIVES. 

The  main  entrance  to  the  park,  at  Fifth  avenue  and 
Fifty-ninth  street,  is  set  back  a  sufficient  distance  from  the 
corner  to  allow  it  to  be  seen  to  advantage,  and  to  form  an 
ante-park  large  enough  for  the  accommodation  of  standing 
vehicles. 

There  will  also  be  entrances  to  the  carriage  road  at 
Seventh  avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  street,  and  at  Eighth 
avenue  near  Sixty-second  street ;  the  main  entrance 
being  that  at  Fifth  avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  street,  from 
which  point  the  road  leads,  by  a  nearly  direct  course, 
to  the  mall.  Here  it  divides,  and,  branching  off  ti  the 
right  and  to  the  left,  continues  on  toward  the  northern 
end  of  the  park — as  will  be  seen  by  reference  to  the 
plan  (D).  It  is  intersected,  in  both  of  its  branches,  by  a 
carriage  road,  which  connects  the  Fifth  and  the  Eighth 
avenues  at  Seventy-second  street,  passing  across  the 
terrace  end  of  the  mall.  This  intersecting;  road  com- 
pletes  a  circuit  about  the  mall,  more  than  three-fourths 
of  a  mile  in  length.  The  carriage  road  from  Seventh 
avenue  and  Eighth  avenue,  near  Sixty-second  street, 
skirts  or  passes  in  rear  of  the  playground  (P.  G.)  and 
the  parade.  The  drive  will,  at  certain  points,  afford 
views  of  the  water  in  the  Croton  reservoirs ;  and  through 
the  upper  park  (north  of  the  reservoirs)  it  follows  easy 
and  graceful  curves,  developing,  exceedingly  well,  the 
fine  views  of  this  portion  of  the  park.  It  is  to  commu- 
nicate with  the  Sixth  and  Seventh  avenues.  It  also  con- 
nects with  the  Fifth  avenue,  and  with  the  Eighth  avenue, 
near  One  Hundred  and  Second  street.    The  drive  is  tP 


12 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


be  mainly  forty -five  feet  wide,  and  covered  with  gravel 
or  broken  stone, 

THE  BRIDLE-ROAD. 

The  bridle-road  (marked  B.  in  the  plan)  commences  at 
Fifth  avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  street,  and  continues  near  the 
Fifth  avenue  line  to  Sixty-third  street,  where  it  passes 
under  an  archway  of  the  drive ;  thence  westward,  pass- 
ing under  the  branch  drive  from  Seventh  avenue,  skirting 
the  playground,  passing  again  under  the  carriage  road 
near  the  line  of  Sixty-fourth  street,  and  thence  proceed- 
ing northward  between  the  drive  and  the  Eighth  avenue, 
until,  at  about  One  Hundredth  street,  it  again  passes 
under  it,  and  follows  McGowan's  pass  to  the  north  end 
of  the  park,  debouching  at  the  Seventh  avenue.  Acces- 
sory to  the  bridle-road,  it  is  proposed  to  lay  out  an 
equestrian  road  forty  feet  wide,  about  two  miles  long, 
and  nearly  level,  around  the  outside  of  the  embankment 
of  the  new  reservoir,  and  a  little  below  the  walk  which 
will  be  formed  on  its  top.  This  would  have  been  ere  now 
commenced,  had  not  the  Croton  Board  refused  the  neces- 
sary authority.  The  grounds  for  this  refusal  are  not  made 
public.  On  account  of  the  uncertainty  in  this  matter,  the 
plan  for  this  portion  of  the  park  is  not  fully  determined  on. 
The  bridle-road,  in  no  instance,  crosses  the  drive,  nor  is  it 
crossed  by  a  foot-path,  on  the  same  level ;  and  it  is  to  be 
preserved  for  the  exclusive  use  of  persons  on  horseback. 
Equestrians  may,  however,  enter  the  carriage  road  at 
pleasure. 

THE  WALKS. 

The  walks  (marked  W.  in.  the  plan)  are  so  varied  in 
extent  and  direction,  that  it  would  b.3  impossible  to  mi- 
nutely describe  them  in  this  work.    By  reference  to  the 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


13 


plan  it  will  be  seen  that  they  are  to  conduct  the  pedes- 
trian to  every  point  of  interest  in  the  whole  park,  and 
that  they  will  afford  the  largest  opportunity  for  examin- 
ing its  features,  and  of  observing  its  visitors.  The  walks 
vary  in  width,  from  eight  feet  to  thirty  feet.  They  will 
all  be  thoroughly  drained,  and  well  gravelled.  In  nearly 
every  case  they  cross  the  roads  under  arches  or  over 
bridges,  and  their  occupants  will  thus  be  protected 
against  accident  from  collision  with  carriages  and  horses 

TRANSVERSE  ROADS. 

There  are  to  be  four  transverse  roads  (T.  E.),  for  the  ac- 
commodation of  business  travel  across  the  park.  These 
are  to  run  nearly  straight,  from  side  to  side,  commencing 
on  the  Fifth  avenue  side  at  Sixty-fifth,  Seventy-ninth, 
Eighty-sixth  and  (about)  Ninety-seventh  streets.  The 
first  two  of  these  are  now  under  construction,  and  will 
probably  be  completed  by  the  spring  of  1860. 

The  total  length  of  the  roads  and  walks  will  be  about 
as  follows : 

Carriage  roads,    -  -  -  -  -  8  J  miles. 

Bridle  roads,  -  -  -  -  5  " 

Walks,  somewhat  over  -  -  -  -        20  " 

Transverse  Roads    -         -  -         -  4  11 

THE  LAKES. 

It  is  in  contemplation  to  make  three  lakes  or  ponds  on 
the  park.  These  are  represented  in  the  plan  as  com- 
plete, though  they  may  be  somewhat  altered  in  exe- 
cution. One  of  these  is  near  the  entrance  at  Fifth  avenue 
and  Fifty-ninth  street,  and  will  be,  from  its  bold  shores, 
particularly  pleasing.  The  second,  at  about  Seventy- 
fourth  street — extending  nearly  across  the  park,  and 
comprising,  with  its  adjuncts,  about  20  acres  of  water — 


14 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


will  be  finished,  nearly  as  represented.  It  is  this  pond 
which  has  been  vised  for  skating  during  the  past  winter. 
Its  shore-line  is  worthy  of  especial  attention,  as  affording 
a  great  variety  of  pleasant  views.  The  third  pond,  in 
McGowan's  pass,  near  the  north  end  of  the  park,  is  sub- 
ject to  modification. 

OPEN  SPACES  AND  PLANTING-. 

Of  open  spaces,  there  a.  e  four,  of  considerable  extent. 
Three  of  these  (marked  P.  G.),  of  which  one  is  opposite 
the  Seventh  avenue  entrance,  and  the  others  north  of 
the  reservoirs,  are  to  be  used  as  play-grounds ;  that  op- 
posite Seventh  avenue  is  14  acres  in  extent,  and  is  pro- 
posed to  be  used,  chiefly,  for  match -games,  between  ball 
and  cricket  clubs.  It  is  now  graded.  The  fourth  space, 
lying  west  of  the  mall,  is  to  be  used  for  large  military 
parades,  and  will,  when  not  so  occupied,  answer  the 
purposes  of  a  fine  lawn. 

The  north-eastern  corner  of  the  park,  between  the 
drive  and  the  Fifth  avenue,  is  proposed  to  be  laid  out  as 
an  arboretum  (A.)  of  American  trees.  Near  the  Fifth 
avenue,  at  Seventy-fourth  street,  there  is  to  be  a  flower- 
garden  in  the  symmetrical  style,  with  a  wall  fountain. 
It  is  contemplated,  though  not  decided,  to  erect  a  Music 
Hall  on  the  hill,  east  of  the  mall,  at  about  Seventieth 
street. 

The  old  State  Arsenal,  at  Fifth  avenue  and  Sixty- 
fourth  street,  is  to  be  remodelled  and  devoted  to  some 
appropriate  use — as  for  a  gymnasium,  or  museum. 

The  planting  of  the  park  is  not  fully  decided  upon  in 
its  details,  nor  would  it  be  possible,  within  the  limits  of 
this  sketch,  to  discuss  even  its  general  features.  The 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PAKK.  15 

location  of  the  groups  will  be  nearly  the  same  as  is  laid 
down  in  the  plan. 


With  reference  to  the  time  at  which  the  various  parts 
of  the  park  will  be  completed,  nothing  definite  can  be 
said,  in  view  of  the  vicissitudes  of  governmental  action. 
Every  portion  of  the  work  is  being  diligently  advanced, 
and  it  is  hoped,  that  within  two  years,  the  engineers  and 
workmen  can  take  their  departure,  and  leave  the  final 
completion  to  nature. 


(Ortmanres,  ^pMwms,  tit.  ©fto  u&  |itt|)crs. 

The  following  ordinances,  regulations;  etc.,  contain  directions  to  visitors 
and  to  those  employed  on  the  work  : 

By  Ordinance  of  the  Commissioner*,  all  persons  are  forbidden  to  enter  or 
leave  the  park,  except  by  the  gate-ways:'*  to  climb  or  walk  upon  I  lie 
wall ;  to  turn  cattle,  horses,  goats  or  swine  into  the  park ;  to  carry  lire- 
arms,  or  to  throw  stones  or  other  missiles  within  it ;  to  cut,  break,  or  in  any 

*  The  stiles  or  steps  over  the  walls  are  included  in  the  term  "gateways"  in  the 
above  ordinances. 


16 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


way  injure  or  deface  the  trees,  shrubs,  plants,  turf,  or  any  of  the  build- 
ings, fences,  bridges,  or  other  constructions  upon  the  park;  or  to  con- 
verse with,  or  in  any  way  hinder  those  engaged  in  its  construction. 

"  All  persons  offending  against  these  ordinances,  shall  be  deemed  guilty 
of  misdemeanor,  and  be  punished,  on  conviction  before  the  Mayor,  Re- 
corder, or  any  Magistrate  of  the  City  of  New  York,  by  a  fine  not  exceeding 
Fifty  Dollars ;  and  in  default  of  payment,  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
thirty  days." — Act  of  Legislature. 

The  Board  of  Commissioners  of  the  Central  Park  will  not  be  responsible 
for  any  damage  suffered  by  any  one,  in  person  or  property,  within  the 
park,  by  reason  of  blasting,  or  other  operations  or  means  of  construction, 
of  the  park. 


SPECIAL  RULES  FOR  BLASTING. 

"  At  least  four  flags  must  be  displayed  before  any  blast  is  fired ;  the 
flag-men  to  be  so  stationed,  that  each  can  see  the  one  next  him,  on  each 
side,  and  all  the  ground  between  them  and  between  himself  and  the  pit. 
The  Foreman  must  see  that  the  flag-men  are  placed  in  this  manner,  using 
his  judgment  as  to  the  distance  at  which  they  need  to  be  stationed  from 
the  pit,  which,  however,  should  in  no  case  be  less  than  five  hundred  feet. 
After  seeing  that  each  is  at  his  proper  station,  the  Foreman  will  stand 
near  the  pit  and  observe  for  himself  if  the  ground  is  clear  in  every  direc- 
tion, and  then  inquire  of  the  flag-men — 11  all  clear  tn  The  flag-men  must 
answer,  eacli — "  all  clear,  sir  /"  and  the  Foreman,  having  heard  this  answer 
distinctly  from  each,  will  give  the  order  to  fire. 

"  After  the  blast  the  Foreman  will  return  to  the  pit  and  see  that  all  is 
safe ;  and  if  so,  will  give  the  word — all  over  !  v  which  will  be  repeated 
by  each  of  the  flag-men,  who  will  then,  and  not  till  then,  douse  their  flags 
and  leave  their  stations. 

li  Foremen  are  required,  as  their  most  imperative  duty,  to  report  every 
case  which  may  come  to  their  knowledge,  in  which  these  rules,  or  their 
own  orders  in  regard  to  blasting,  are  disregarded,  or  of  any  neglect  of 
proper  care  by  their  assistants,  flag-men,  blasters,  or  others;  and  especially 
to  secure  the  names  of  any  men  employed  on  the  park  who  may  refuse  to 
regard  the  warnings  of  the  flag-men.  The  police  will  spare  no  pains  to 
take  such  into  custody,  and  no  man  thus  convicted  of  fool-hardiness  will 
be  allowed  to  remain  on  the  park.  All  persons  at  any  time  on  the  park, 
including  strangers,  are  requested  to  report  verbally  or  by  writing,  to  the 
office,  or  to  any  police  officer,  any  disregard  of  the  above  rules,  or  any 
want  of  proper  precaution  in  blasting,  which  they  may  chance  to  observe 
on  the  park. 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted,  Archite<t-in-Chief" 


CAUTION. 

11  Visitors  and  WorJemrn,  take  Xotice  ! — Except  as  shall  be  required  by 
those  employed  upon  the  work,  in  the  execution  of  their  orders,  it  is 
positively  forbidden  to  any  one,  for  any  motive,  to  pick  any  fruit,  flowers, 
leaves,  nuts  or  berries,  or  to  remove  any  sticks,  roots,  stones,  stakes,  or 
broken  stakes  or  boards,  shavings,  or  any  rubbish  or  supposed  trifles  of  any 
kind  whatever ;  to  throw  stones,  or  to  cut.  mark,  or  in  any  way  deface. 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


17 


mutilate  or  soil  any  construction,  tree,  bush,  rock  or  stone,  upon  the  Cen- 
tral Park. 

"  Many  persons  have  been  heavily  fined  and  imprisoned  for  disregarding 
the  above  prohibitions. 

1 1  Police  officers  and  police  foremen  are  instructed  to  use  the  utmost 
vigilance  for  the  detection  and  apprehension  of  offenders,  without  regard 
to  age,  sex  or  condition. 

"If  the  Park  is  ever  to  meet  the  requirements  of  the  public,  it  must 
from  the  outset  be  preserved  from  the  careless  and  the  ignorant,  as  well  as 
the  mischievous  and  malicious ;  and  all  good  citizens  are  requested  to 
give  their  countenance,  influence  and  assistance  to  a  rigid  enforcement 
of  the  ordinances  of  the  Commission  for  this  purpose. 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted,  Architect-in-Chief.v 


"  The  Police  officers  of  the  park  report  in  writing,  four  times  a  day,  any 
violation  of  the  ordinances  or  of  the  rules,  and  any  want  of  punctuality 
or  dereliction  from  duty  on  the  part  of  any  one  whomsoever,  which  they 
may  observe  within  the  park. 

"No  one  employed  on  the  park  will  at  any  time  address  a  police  officer 
on  duty,  except  for  the  purpose  of  giving  him  information,  or  otherwise 
assisting  him  in  his  duty.  Every  one  is  required  to  give  assistance,  bravely 
and  zealously,  when  called  upon  to  do  so  by  a  police  officer.  Any  threat, 
sneer  or  other  form  of  disrespect  or  discouragement  in  his  duty  addressed 
to  a  police  officer,  will  be  followed  by  the  immediate  dismissal,  and  if  of 
aggravated  character,  by  the  arrest  and  legal  prosecution,  of  the  offender. 
Foremen  will  always  suspend  any  one  or  all  of  their  men  when  required 
to  do  so  by  a  police  officer,  stating  the  circumstances  in  their  next  daily 
report. 

4 'All foremen  holding  police  warrants  will,  whenever  on  the  park,  con- 
sider themselves  on  police  duty,  as  auxiliary  and  subordinate  to  the  regu- 
lar police  of  the  park. 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted,  Architect-in-Chief." 


TO  THE  FOREMEN  OF  THE  PARK. 

"  Rumors  have  frequently  been  circulated  of  foremen  on  the  park  im- 
posing upon  the  ignorance  of  their  men  to  collect  money,  or  obtain  ser- 
vices for  other  purposes  than  the  park  work.  To  leave  no  ground  hereafter 
for  such  reports,  and  to  make  sure,  as  far  as  possible,  that  each  man 
understands  his  rights  and  the  limits  of  his  obligations  to  the  park  ;  it  is 
ordered  that  foremen  read  the  accompanying  notice  to  their  gangs,  or  get 
their  general  foremen,  or  some  other  officer,  to  do  so,  at  least  as  often  as 
once  a  month. 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted,  At chitect-in- Chief. 


CENTRAL  PARK. — NOTICE  TO  MEN  EMPLOYED. 

%i  Everyman  should  distinctly  understand  that  he  is  employed  solely  to 
work  on  the  park  for  his  regular  wages,  and  for  no  other  consideration 
whatever.  Nothing  but  his  labor,  compliance  with  the  rules  of  the  park, 
and  a  civil  behavior  to  all  engaged  on  it.  can  be  required  of  him. 

'•No  one  has  a  right  to  receive  a  payment,  in  any  form,  for  having  pro- 
cured any  man's  employment,  or  for  retaining  any  man  on  the  work.  If 


18 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


any  such  payments  are  made,  or  any  presents  or  treats  are  offered,  which 
can  be  considered  as  payments  or  bribes  for  such  favors  or  services,  they 
will  be  deemed  proper  ground  for  the  discharge  of  the  person  offering  them. 

"  It  is  entirely  contrary  to  the  intention  of  employing  men  on  the  park, 
that  any  influence  of  any  sort  should  be  brought  to  bear  upon  their  politi- 
cal opinions  or  actions.  Officers  and  foremen  on  the  park  will,  therefore, 
abstain  from  talking  with  the  men  upon  political  topics,  and  are  distinctly 
forbidden  to  solicit  their  votes  for  any  person  or  measure,  on  any  pretence 
whatever.  Men  are  requested  to  inform  the  Architect-in-Chief  if  they  are 
ever  told  that  it  is  their  duty  to  vote  one  way  or  another  because  they  are 
employed  on  the  park,  or  that  it  is  necessary  for  them  to  vote  one  way  or 
another  in  order  to  be  kept  at  work  on  the  park. 

Fred.  Law  Olmsted,  Architect-in-Chief" 

The  park-keepers,  thirty-six  in  number,  are  especially 
instructed  to  answer  the  inquiries  of  visitors,  and  to  afford 
them  every  practicable  assistance ;  but  they  are  not  al- 
lowed to  converse  with  them,  except  for  this  purpose. 

In  addition  to  the  keepers,  who  are  special  policemen, 
about  fifty  officers,  engineers,  and  foremen  of  the  park, 
also  hold  warrants  as  special  policemen,  and  are  at  all 
times  on  duty  as  an  auxiliary  force. 

The  following  are  the  principal  officers  on  the  park : 

FRED.  LAW  OLMSTED, 

Architect-in-Chief. 

Calvert  Vaux,  Consulting  Architect. 
J.  Wrey  Mould,  Assistant.         Alfred  J.  Bloor,  Assistant. 
Edw.  C.  Miller,       "  Fritz  Meyer,  " 

Jos.  B.  Curtis,  " 

Wm.  H.  Grant,  Superintending  Engineer. 

M.  A.  Kellogg,  Assistant  to  Do.  Peter  Hogan,  Ass.  Eng. 

J.  H.  Pieper,  Principal  Ass.  Eng.  J.  S.  Lawrence,  "  " 

Matthew  Betts,  "      "  J.  A.  Robertson,  "  " 

John  Bogart,  "      "  Gr.  P.  McLachlan,  Draughtsman. 

A.  G.  Childs,  ,{      "  Chas.  Spangeneerg,  " 

F.  T.  Hawks,  "      "  Wm.  B.  Swan, 

Geo.  E.  Waring,  Jr.,  Agricultural  Engineer. 
Henry  Bieringer,  Assistant.  John  L.  Mapes,  Assistant. 

The  head-quarters  of  the  Officers  and  of  the  Keepers 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


19 


are  on  the  Fifth  avenue,  opposite  Seventy-ninth  street, 
where  strangers  may  always  apply  for  information  con- 
cerning the  park. 

HOW  TO  SEE  THE  PARK — CITY  CARS. 

The  park  may  be  reached  by  the  Third,  Sixth,  and 
Eisrhth  avenue  railroads.    The  Third  avenue  cars  run 

o 

from  the  Asto?  House,  via  the  Bowery  and  Third  avenue, 
to  Ninety-second  street.  It  is  intended  to  continue  this 
line  to  Harlem — One  Hundred  and  Thirtieth  street — by 
the  middle  of  July ;  at  present  the  continuation  from 
Ninety-second  street  to  Harlem  is  by  stages.  This  line 
runs  parallel  to  the  park,  two  blocks  distant,  for  its  entire 
length,  and  affords  the  best  accommodations  for  visiting 
those  parts  which  are  now  most  interesting.  Passengers 
may  leave  the  cars  at  the  depot  (Sixty- fifth  street),  and 
walk  across  Hamilton  square  and  a  partially  open  street, 
to  the  Fifth  avenue,  entering  the  park  at  the  Arsenal 
gate  or  at  Sixty-seventh  street,  the  route  across  being 
tolerable  in  dry  weather ;  at  Seventy -first  street,  which  is 
open  to  a  very  favorable  point  of  entrance  ;  at  Seventy- 
ninth  street,  on  the  upper  side  of  which  there  is  a  good 
sidewalk,  to  the  Superintendents'  offices ;  at  Eighty-sixth 
street,  which  is  flagged  to  the  park,  crossing  it  between 
the  reservoirs ;  or  at  One  Hundred  and  Ninth  street, 
which  is  open  to  the  park  near  its  northern  boundary. 
These  cars  run  every  two  and  a  half  minutes,  each  alter- 
nate car  (marked,  over  the  front,  "  Yorkville  direct/') 
running  through  to  Ninety-second  street,  and  the  others 
only  to  Sixty-fifth  street.  The  stages  leave  for  Harlem 
every  eight  minutes.  The  fare  to  Sixty-fifth  street  is  five 
ents  •  to  any  point  between  there  and  Ninety-second 


20 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


street,  six  cents ;  and  to  any  point  above  Ninety-second 
street,  ten  cents.  The  time  from  the  Astor  House  to 
Sixty-fifth  street  is  forty-eight  minutes  ;  to  Seventy-ninth 
street,  fifty-four  minutes ;  and  to  Ninety-second  street, 
sixty  minutes.  From  Canal  street  it  is  eleven  minutes  less 
than  from  the  Astor  House,  and  from  Fourteenth  street, 
twenty-five  minutes  less. 

The  Sixth  avenue  cars  run  from  the  Astor  House,  and 
from  Broadway  and  Canal  street,  via  Varick  street,  etc., 
and  the  Sixth  avenue,  to  Fifty-ninth  street,  the  lower 
boundary  of  the  park.  After  leaving  the  cars,  turn  to 
the  left,  and  enter  at  the  first  or  second  stile.  The  first 
leads  to  a  high  mass  of  rock,  whence  may  be  had  a  good 
view  of  that  part  of  the  park ;  and  the  second,  by  the 
easiest  route  to  the  drive. 

The  Eighth  avenue  cars  start  from  the  same  points  as 
the  Sixth,  and  pass,  via  Hudson  street,  etc.,  to  the  Eighth 
avenue,  on  which  they  run  to  Forty-ninth  street,  whence 
passengers  may  walk,  a  half  mile,  to  the  park,  or  until 
they  meet,  at  Fifty-first  street,  (which  they  may,  or  may 
not,)  a  small  car,  that  runs  to  and  from  Fifty-ninth  street. 
From  the  terminus  of  this  line,  one  may  turn  to  the  right, 
and  enter  at  the  Seventh  avenue  gate,  or  continue  up  the 
Eighth  avenue  to  the  Sixty-second  street  gate.  The  fare 
on  both  of  these  roads  is  five  cents,  for  any  distance,  and 
the  cars  run  at  frequent  intervals. 

CARRIAGES 

Can  approach  the  park  by  Broadway  and  Seventh 
avenue.  The  Sixth  avenue  is  passable,  but  not  particu- 
larly pleasant  above  Forty-ninth  street.  The  Fifth 
avenue  is  now  being  graded  above  Fifty-ninth  street.  If 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PAKK. 


21 


not  found  to  be  open,  carriages  can  cross  to  the  Sixth 
avenue  in  front  of  St.  Luke's  Hospital  (Fifty-fourth  street), 
or  on  Fifty-seventh  street.  There  is  an  entrance  to  the 
park  on  the  Fifth  avenue,  about  fifty  feet  north  of  Fifty- 
ninth  street,  which  will  not  be  obstructed  by  the  grad- 
ing of  the  avenue;  and  another  on  Fifty-ninth  street 
near  the  Fifth  avenue.  The  driving  is  good  on  the 
Third  avenue,  and  carriages  can  cross  from  it  to  the  park 
on  Seventy -first,  Seventy -ninth,  and  Eighty-sixth  streets, 
without  difficulty.  From  the  Bloomingdale  road  (Broad- 
way) carriages  can  cross  to  the  park  on  Sixty-third, 
Seventy-first,  Eighty-sixth,  Ninety-third,  and  One  Hun- 
dred and  Tenth  streets — indicated  on  the  map  by  arrows. 
The  Eighth  avenue  is  passable  for  carriages  as  far  as 
Sixty-seventh  street  (where  there  is  a  gate),  and  above 
Eighty-sixth  street,  but  not  between  these  streets. 

The  condition  of  the  park  will  not  be  inviting  for  car- 
riage travel  during  the  coming  season ;  and  on  account 
of  the  changes  which  it  undergoes  from  week  to  week, 
no  directions  as  to  routes  can  be  here  given ;  but  careful 
drivers  can  always  get  about  without  danger,  by  fre- 
quently inquiring  their  way.  There  are  roads  across 
the  park  at  Seventy-second  street  and  Ninety-third  street 
— the  latter  is  very  soft  in  wet  weather. 

02sT  HORSEBACK. 

Equestrians  may  go  to  the  park  by  any  of  the  routes 
pointed  out  for  carriages,  the  Fifth  avenue  being  the  best 
in  dry  weather,  from  not  being  paved  above  Forty-eighth 
street ;  and  the  Seventh  avenue  in  wet  weather,  from 
being  paved  to  the  park.  Horses  can  usually  get  by  the 
difficulties  at  Fifth  avenue  and  Fifty-ninth  street ;  or,  if 
they  cannot,  they  can  cross  at  Fifty-seventh  street  to  the 


22 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


Sixth  avenue,  and  thence  go  to  the  Seventh  avenue 
gate.  When  once  in  the  park,  equestrians  can  go  where 
they  please,  averting  only  gravel  walks,  new  filling, 
marshy  ground,  and  newly-covered  drains  (shown  by 
long  narrow  mounds,  six  inches  to  one  foot  high),  which 
are  particularly  dangerous.  Persons  taking  Fifth  avenue 
stages  can  conveniently  supply  themselves  with  horses, 
as  Disbrow's  Biding  School  is  near  the  end  of  the  route 
— Fifth  avenue  and  Thirty-ninth  street. 

OBJECTS  OF  INTEREST. 

In  future  editions  of  this  work  it  is  intended  to  specify 
all  objects  of  interest  in  and  about  the  park,  as  fast  as  the 
work  is  completed.  At  present  there  is  little  that  is  wor- 
thy of  the  especial  notice  of  the  mere  pleasure-seeker, 
except  "the  Eamble."  and  McGowan's  Hill,  Eighth 
avenue  and  One  Hundred  and  Sixth  street ;  although 
those  interested  in  rural  construction  will  much  enjoy  an 
occasional  tramp  over  the  park,  comparing  it  with  the 
map,  and  watching  the  progress  of  the  work. 

THE  RAMBLE. 

Between  the  old  Eeservoir  and  the  large  lake,  there  is 
a  hilly  tract  of  about  forty  acres,  most  of  which  is  com- 
pleted, with  gravel  walks,  shrubbery,  etc.  This  portion 
of  the  grounds  is  now  ready  for  public  use,  and  its  taste- 
ful ornamentation  augurs  well  for  the  beauty  of  the  whole 
park.  The  views  by  which  these  pages  are  embellished, 
were  suggested  by  proposed  effects  in  the  Eamble.  For 
a  pleasant  stroll  in  real  country,  a  picnic  on  moss-covered 
rocks,  or  a  convenient  view  of  the  work,  the  Eamble  will 
be  a  great  boon  to  the  New  Yorkers.  At  the  west  side  of 
this  tract  there  is  a  considerable  natural  cave  or  fissure 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


23 


in  the  rocks,  which  is  commended  to  the  especial  attention 
of  children.  The  best  approach  to  the  Eamble  is  by  the 
Third  avenue  cars  to  Seventy-first  street,  thence  across  to 
the  park,  following  the  McAdam  road  toward  the  Bell 
Tower  (see  K  on  the  map)  as  far  as  the  dam  at  the  foot  of 
the  lake,  and  thence  up  the  broad  walk  to  the  left.  It  may 
also  be  conveniently  reached  by  the  Seventy-ninth  street 
entrance,  crossing  the  cedar  knoll  back  of  the  offices. 

mcgowan's  hill, 
Including  the  most  interesting  part  of  the  newly  au- 
thorized addition  to  the  park,  is  one  of  the  most  pictur- 
esque spots  on  the  island.  Not  only  is  it  fine  in  itself, 
but  it  commands  a  very  extensive  view,  including  Staten 
Island,  the  Palisades,  Westchester  County,  Long  Island 
Sound,  and  the  hills  of  Long  Island.  It  is  the  immediate 
locality  of  an  old  line  of  fortifications.  It  may  be  ap- 
proached by  the  Third  avenue  and  One  Hundred  and 
Ninth  street,  the  best  ascent  to  the  hill  being  around  on 
the  Eighth  avenue  side,  near  One  Hundred  and  Eighth 
street.  It  is  the  best  convenient  resort  for  parties  de- 
siring a  "  day  in  the  country." 

TREE  PLANTING. 

The  Mall,  which,  by  the  way,  comprises  five  acres  of 
made  soil  three  and  a-half  feet  deep,  is  now  being  sup- 
plied with  American  elms  of  twenty  years'  growth. 
These  trees  are  brought  on  trucks  from  an  average  dis- 
tance  of  thirty  miles ;  and  the  manner  of  planting  them 
is,  at  least,  interesting  to  horticulturists. 

DRAINING. 

Those  who  are  interested  in  such  matters  will  find,  on 
the  park,  an  example  of  the  most  approved  system  of 


24 


GUIDE  TO  THE  CENTRAL  PARK. 


tile  drainage,  which  they  can  at  any  time  examine,  in 
connection  with  the  plans,  by  applying  to  the  Agricultu- 
ral Engineer,  or  his  assistants,  at  the  Superintendents' 
offices,  Fifth  avenue  and  Seventy-ninth  street. 

ROCK  BLASTING. 

The  hours  for  blasting  are  8  20  &  11 40  a.m.  &  3  20  p.  m. 
This  extensive  cannonading,  in  which  about  forty  kegs 
of  powder  are  used  every  day,  can  be  safely  viewed  from 
elevated  points  near  the  entrances,  or  in  the  Ramble, 
and  from  McGowan's  Hill. 


Those  who  desire  to  spend  a  day  in  examining  the 
work  on  the  park,  are  recommended  to  go  first  to  the 
Superintendents'  offices  (in  case  they  desire  information), 
thence  to  the  Bell  Tower,  thence  toward  the  Arsenal, 
from  there  across  to  the  middle,  or  west  side  of  the  park, 
and  to  follow  the  Drive  to  McGowan's  Hill,  and  down  on 
the  Fifth  avenue  side.  They  can  get  items  of  informa- 
tion from  the  engineers  and  policemen  on  the  ground.  A 
satisfactory  examination  may  be  made  in  a  few  hours  on 
horseback. 


SUPPLEMENT. 


August  25th,  1859. 


PROMENADE  CONCERTS. 

A  fund  for  the  purpose  having  been  supplied,  by  sub- 
scription, by  citizens,  Dod worth's  Band  gives  a  Concert 
in  the  Eamble  every  Saturday,  when  the  weather  is  favor- 
able, commencing  at  4  1-2  o'clock,  P.  M.,  and  continuing 
until  dusk.  Printed  programmes  are  for  sale  on  the 
ground,  at  the  time  of  the  Concert — from  that  of  the  fifth 
Concert  we  extract  the  following : — 

Note. — The  seats  provided  are  not  intended  to  be  occu- 
pied by  the  same  persons  (unless  invalids)  during  all  the 
Concert.  There  will  be  an  interval  of  fifteen  minutes  be- 
tween the  parts,  to  allow  promenaders  to  extend  their 
walks  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  Ramble.  The  Water 
Boys  are  paid  for  their  services,  and  visitors  are  requested 
not  to  offer  them  gratuities.  The  expense  attending  these 
Concerts  is  defrayed,  in  every  particular,  by  the  voluntary 
contributions  of  citizens.  If  there  should  be  any  profit 
attending  the  sale  of  these  Programmes,  it  will  be  applied 
to  the  same  end.  Subscriptions  to  sustain  the  Concerts 
are  solicited,  and  may  be  addressed  to  the  Superintendent 
of  the  Park. 

These  Concerts  are  very  largely  attended,  and  have 
made  the  Ramble  one  of  the  most  fashionable  resorts  of 
the  city. 

THE  RAMBLE, 

at  the  north  side  of  which  the  Band  is  stationed,  is  best 
approached  from  the  Third  Avenue  cars  by  71st  street 

(25) 


26 


SUPPLEMENT. 


and  the  72d  street  entrance,  from  which  point  there  is  a 
finished  gravel  and  plank  walk ;  or,  from  the  Sixth  Ave- 
nue cars,  by  a  similar  walk,  which  is  quite  direct  through, 
or  on  the  west  side  of  the  Mall,— past  the  partially-com- 
pleted terrace  at  its  northern  end, — and  past  the  eastern 
end  of  the  lake. 

Carriages  can,  without  difficulty,  go  to  the  foot  of  the 
Ramble,  near  the  eastern  end  of  the  pond,  and  safely  to 
to  the  northern  part  of  the  Ramble  (near  the  music-stand). 
The  latter  point  is  approached  by  cart-roads  from  79th 
street  and  Fifth  Avenue,  and  from  72d  street  and  Eighth 
Avenue,  running  west  of  the  pond  to  79th  street,  and 
thence  up  the  hill  to  the  south  end  of  the  Bell  Tower 
Rock. 

Saddle  Horses  can  very  easily  follow  the  same  roads. 


PRESENT  CONDITION  AND  PROSPECTS  OP  THE  PARK. 

With  the  exception  of  the  filling  at  the  Fifth  and 
Eighth  Avenues  and  59th  street,  and  the  widening  of  59th 
street,  which  are  delayed  by  a  failure  of  the  contractors 
to  complete  their  work  within  the  contract-time ;  and  of 
certain  bridges  which  cannot  probably  be  completed  this 
Fall,  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  procuring  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  stone,  it  is  expected  that  the  drives  and  walks 
below  79th  street  on  the  east  side,  and  below  72d  street 
on  the  west  side  of  the  Park,  will  be  completed  in  Octo- 
ber. The  gaps  occasioned  by  the  incomplete  bridges,  will 
be  passed  by  temporary  roads;  and,  in  less  than  one 
month  from  this  date,  there  will  be  a  very  good  drive  on 
the  lower  Park. 


M  AP  <)K  THE 

ROADS  WALKS  OBNAMBTTTAL  WATER  etc. etc  OF  THE  CENTRAL,  PARK 


ANTI- SLAVERY  TRACTS.    No.  3. 


COLONIZATION. 

BY    REV.   O.  B.  FROTHING  HAM. 

I.  The  Colonization  Society  propose  transporting  to  Africa  the 
whole  free  colored  population  of  the  United  States,  with  or  without 
their  consent.  Said  Mr.  Webster,  a  If  Virginia  or  the  south  see  fit  to 
make  any  proposition  to  relieve  themselves  from  the  burden  of  their 
free  colored  population,  they  have  my  free  consent  that  the  govern- 
ment shall  pay  them  out  of  these  proceeds  (two  hundred  million 
dollars)  any  sum  of  money  adequate  to  that  end.'7  Said  Mr.  Stanton, 
of  the  "  ebony  line  ,}  of  steamers,  "  Have  we  not  driven  away  the  red 
man  ?  Who  shall  say  nay  when  we  say  to  the  black  man,  You  are 
not  wanted  ? 77  Mr.  Brodnax,  of  Virginia,  avowed  himself  in  favor 
of  compulsory  laws  to  force  the  blacks  into  exile,  and  would  extort 
their  "  consent "  by  a  species  of  oppression  calculated  to  make 
their  situation  here  insupportable.  He  even  confesses  that  some  are 
induced  to  emigrate  "  by  the  gentle  admonition  of  a  severe  flagella- 
tion.'7 It  is  a  fact,  that  out  of  eight  thousand  five  hundred  persons 
sent  by  this  society  to  Liberia,  up  to  the  year  1853,  four  thousand 
and  ninety-three  were  emancipated  in  view  of  emigrating.  Of  course 
these  had  no  choice  about  going. 

II.  The  object  of  this  wholesale  banishment  of  the  free  blacks  is 
the  security  of  the  slave  system.  Proofs  of  this  abound.  We  have 
room  for  a  few  only. 

1.  The  idea  of  removing  the  free  blacks  of  the  south,  by  colo- 
nizing them  in  remote  Africa,  originated  in  1777.  But  the  first  vig- 
orous impulse  towards  it  was  given,  in  1800,  by  a  threatened  insur- 
rection in  Virginia ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  governor  was 
"  requested  to  correspond  with  the  President  of  the  United  States 
on  the  subject  of  purchasing  lands  without  the  limits  of  this  State, 
whither  persons  obnoxious  to  the  laws,  or  dangerous  to  the  peace 
1  (1) 


2 


ANTI-SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


of  society ,  may  be  removed.1''  This  was  the  beginning  —  a  dread 
of  the  disturbing  presence  of  the  free  blacks  —  a  dread  on  the  part 
of  slaveholders,  anxious  to  secure  their  property. 

2.  The  society  was  founded  and  supported  by  slaveholders.  It 
had  its  birth  in  Virginia.  At  its  formation  Mr.  Clay  presided  and 
John  Randolph  spoke.  Its  first  president  was  Judge  Washington, 
of  Virginia.  Its  seventeen  vice  presidents  were  all  from  the  south. 
Its  managers  were  owners  of  slaves.  The  substitution,  in  later  years, 
of  northern  men  with  southern  principles  for  southern  men  has 
not  affected  this  peculiarity  a  whit.  Its  organs  declare  that  "  slave- 
holders have  given  the  society  their  approval ;  that  they  will  ap- 
prove it;  and  can  approve  no  other ;  "  of  course  because  it  maintains 
slavery. 

3.  The  society  has  never  manifested  hostility  to  the  institution  of 
slavery.  This  would  seem  to  follow  from  the  nature  of  the  case. 
But  here  are  evidences :  John  Randolph,  at  the  meeting  called,  in 
1816,  "-to  consider  the  propriety  and  practicability  of  colonizing  the 
free  people  of  color  in  the  United  States,  and  of  forming  a  society 
for  that  purpose,"  declared  publicly  that  the  meeting,  in  its  effects, 
"  must  materially  tend  to  secure  the  property  of  every  master  in  the 
United  States  over  his  slaves.  And  again,  in  another  speech  :  "  The 
measure  proposed  will  prove  one  of  the  greatest  securities  to  enable 
the  master  to  keep  in  possession  his  own  property."  To  the  same 
purport  hear  Henry  Clay  :  "  It  is  not  proposed  to  consider  any 
question  of  emancipation,  or  that  is  connected  with  the  abolition  of 
slavery.  I  am  myself  a  slaveholder,  and  consider  that  species  of 
property  as  inviolable  as  any  other  in  the  country."  The  society 
"  has  always  protested,"  say  some  memorialists.  (12th  Ann.  Rep.,) 
u  that  it  has  no  wish  to  interfere  with  the  delicate,  but  important, 
question  of  slavery."  u  Its  object,  if  I  understand  it  aright,"  said 
Mr.  Archer,  of  Virginia,  a  involves  no  intrusion  upon  property,  or  even 
upon  prejudice."  "  It  is  necessary,"  contends  Hermannus  Bleecker, 
"  to  disclaim  all  attempts  for  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery,  or 
the  instruction  of  the  great  body  of  the  blades."  Rev.  J.  M.  Pease 
announces  that  "  in  no  sense  whenever  does  the  genius  of  this  institu- 
tion interfere  with  the  legal  relatien  of  master  and  servant.  It 
acknowledges  the  constitutionality  of  that  relation,  and  the  providen- 
iial  arrangement  by  which  it  subsists./*    The  editor  of  the  New 


COLONIZATION. 


3 


York  Colonization  Society's  Journal,  (March,  1853.)  informs  his 
readers  that  the  Colonization  Society  was  formed  to  assist  free  col- 
ored people,  and  only  such,  and  from  its  beginning  disclaimed,  as  a 
society,  all  interference  with  the  question  of  slavery.  Henry  A. 
Wise,  of  Virginia,  in  1839,  called  on  the  Colonization  society  "to 
maintain  that  great  original  principle  on  which  it  was  founded  — 
friendship  to  the  slaveholders."  More  than  this,  the  society  is  often 
recommended  as  the  safeguard  and  defence  of  slavery.  Thus  in 
the  African  Repository,  vol.  i.  p.  67,  we  read  :  "  The  object  of  the  Colo- 
nization Society  commends  itself  to  every  class.  The  landed  proprie- 
tor may  enhance  the  value  of  his  property  by  assisting  the  enterprise," 
and  "  may  contribute  more  effectually  to  the  continuance  and  strength 
of  this  system,  by  removing  those  now  free,  than  by  any  or  all  other 
methods  which  can  possibly  be  devised."  Again :  Mr.  Archer 
speaks  :  "  It  is  on  the  ground  of  interest,  therefore,  the  most  indis- 
putable pecuniary  interest,  that  I  address  myself  to  the  people  and 
legislatures  of  the  slaveholding  States."  Hon.  T.  Butler  King, 
writing  to  F.  P.  Stanton  about  his  "ebony line,*'  says,  "The  slaves 
cannot  be  removed ;  but  the  free  colored  people  can  be,  and  the  secu- 
rity of  both  master  and  servant  promoted."  Thus  do  the  slavehold- 
ing colonizationists  describe  their  favorite  institution :  "  Its  objects 
are,  in  the  first  place,  to  aid  ourselves  by  relieving  us  from  a  species 
of  population  pregnant  with  future  danger  and  present  inconven- 
ience." In  the  African  Repository,  vol.  xii.  p.  375,  it  is  maintained 
"  that  the  rights  of  the  master  or  owner  of  slave  property  are  ac- 
knowledged by  the  divine  law."  And  this  is  good  colonization 
doctrine,  often  uttered  by  the  most  eminent  champions  of  the  society. 

4.  The  Colonization  Society  does  not  encourage  emancipation. 
u  The  managers  could  with  no  propriety  depart  from  their  original 
and  avowed  purpose,  and  make  emancipation  their  object.  And  they 
would  further  say,  that,  if  they  were  not  thus  restrained  by  the  terms 
of  their  association,  they  would  still  consider  any  attempts  to  promote 
the  increase  of  the  free  colored  population  by  manumission  unneces- 
sary, premature,  and  dangerous."  "  The  rights  of  the  masters  are  to 
remain  sacred  in  the  eyes  of  the  society."  (African  Repos.  vol.  xi. 
p.  58,  and  iv.  274.)  "  It  would  be  as  humane  to  throw  them  from  the 
decks  in  the  middle  passage  as  to  set  them  free  in  our  country.  We 
believe  there  is  not  the  slightest  moral  turpitude  in  holding  slaves 


4 


AN TI- SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


under  existing  circumstances  at  the  south."  (African  Repos.  vol. 
ix.  p.  4.)  And  Mr.  Hopkins,  president  of  the  Geneva  (New  York) 
Colonization  Society,  goes  further :  "  As  I  understand  the  Epistle  to 
Timothy,"  he  says,  "  there  is  an  express  injunction  not  to  preach  man- 
umission." Distinguished  patrons  of  this  scheme  have  not  been 
forward  in  emancipating  their  slaves.  Judge  Washington,  the 
first  president  of  the  society,  in  1821  undeceived  his  sanguine  serfs 
by  assuring  them  that  none  of  them  need  expect  freedom,  and 
soon  after  sold  fifty-four  to  the  New  Orleans  market.  Its  second 
president,  Mr.  Carroll,  held  through  life,  and  bequeathed  at  his 
death,  one  thousand  slaves.  Mr.  Madison,  another  president,  left  a 
hundred  slaves  to  his  heirs,  sending  none  to  Liberia.  Mr.  Clay 
directed  that  his  slaves  should  be  kept  in  bonds  twenty-five  years 
after  his  death,  and  then  should  be  removed  to  Liberia.  Coloniza- 
tion operates,  not  to  accelerate  emancipation,  but  to  retard  it.  That 
it  must  have  this  effect  is  plain,  because  the  removal  of  the  free 
blacks  enhances  the  value  of  slave  property,  and  manumission 
causes  the  market  price  of  the  non-manumitted  to  rise.  It  is  doubtful 
if  the  rate  of  emancipation  has  ever  to  any  considerable  extent  been 
influenced  by  this  scheme.  It  has  depended  upon  the  cotton  crop. 
Statistics  show  that  when  the  cotton  crop,  between  1800  and  1820, 
increased  nearly  threefold,  the  number  of  emancipations  decreased 
nearly  two  thirds.  Emancipations  multiplied  between  1820  and 
1830,  the  value  of  the  cotton  crop  remaining  nearly  stationary.  In 
1830-1840  they  dwindled  away  more  than  one  half,  owing  to  the 
more  than  double  value  of  the  cotton  crop  ;  and  in  1840-1850  they 
diminished  almost  to  nothing,  from  a  similar  cause.  All  this  proves 
that  colonization  does  not  encourage  emancipation.  It  is  perfectly 
willing  to  leave  slavery  where  and  'what  it  is,  and  only  aims  to 
remove  the  already  free  people,  whose  presence  menaces  its  safety. 

5.  The  Colonization  Society  wages  war  upon  the  free  blacks.  It 
calls  them  "  notoriously  ignorant,  degraded,  and  miserable,  mentally 
diseased,  broken  spirited ;  acted  upon  by  no  motives  to  honorable 
exertion;  scarcely  reached  in  their  debasement  by  the  heavenly 
light :  "  an  incubus,  a  nuisance  ;  "more  addicted  to  crime,  and  vice, 
and  dissolute  manners  than  any  other  portion  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States."  And  not  in  pity  is  this  said  of  them,  but  in  hate, 
and  with  the  design  of  awakening  against  them  more  hate.  What 


COLONIZATION. 


5 


kind  of  love  is  it  that  thus  vilifies  its  objects  \  What  kind  of  love 
is  it  that  strives  to  deepen  degradation  ;  that  views  with  u  highest 
gratification  75  the  barbarous  edicts  of  southern  legislatures,  by  which 
free  colored  people  entering  the  State  (Maryland)  must  pay  twenty 
dollars;  on  conviction,  for  the  first  offence,  and  five  hundred  dollars 
for  the  second  offence,  or  be  sold  to  satisfy  the  demand ;  *  are  forbid- 
den to  attend  religious  meetings,  save  when  conducted  by  whites ;  t 
and  may  not  sell  any  of  the  most  common  articles  of  traffic  among 
whites,  nine  in  number,  without  proving  by  certificate  that  they 
came  honestly  by  them  ?  Do  they  who  despise  and  persecute  the 
blacks  here  really  wish  them  well  anywhere,  even  in  Liberia?  To 
think  so  is  absurd.  Men  do  not  scorn  and  revile  those  they  love. 
The  free  blacks  are  objects  of  antipathy  ;  and  in  banishing  them, 
the  slaveholders  wish  only  to  protect  themselves. 

6.  Finally,  the  enemies  of  slavery,  with  almost  unanimous  con- 
sent, are  hostile  to  the  Colonization  Society.  Repeatedly  have  the 
free  people  of  color  exposed  and  protested  against  it,  as  in  direct 
opposition  to  their  best  hopes,  prospects,  and  rights.  As  early  as 
1817,  ere  an  anti-slavery  society  was  formed,  it  was  denounced  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  by  public  resolves,  as  cruel,  and  "  in  direct  violation  of 
those  principles  which  have  been  the  boast  of  the  republic."  And 
in  1853  the  colored  people  of  Syracuse  held  a  meeting,  and  unani- 
mously resolved,  u  That  our  abhorrence  of  the  scheme  of  African 
colonization  is  not  in  the  slightest  degree  abated;  that  we  recognize 
in  it  the  most  intense  hatred  of  the  colored  race,  clad  in  the  garb  of 
pretended  philanthropy."  The  same  estimate  of  its  character  was 
formed  and  promulgated  by  such  men  as  Wilberforce,  Macaulay, 
Gurney,  Lushington,  Buxton,  Cropper,  and  O'Connell.  And  Thomas 
Clarkson,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Garrison,  giving  his  reasons  for  first 
accepting,  and  afterwards  rejecting,  the  plan,  says,  u  I  will  only 
say  that  I  saw  the  scheme  —  shall  I  say  the  diabolical  scheme?  — 
with  new  eyes,  and  that  the  new  light  thrown  upon  it  determined 
me  to  wash  my  hands  clean  forever  of  the  undertaking."  Who  are 
the  truest  friends  of  the  slave  —  such  persons  as  these  ?  or  the 
Clays,  Stantons,  Wises,  and  Archers,  who  favor  colonization  ? 

*  One  half  the  net  proceeds  of  sale  goes  to  the  State  Colonization  Society  ! 
f  In  Baltimore  and  Annapolis  it  is  only  necessary  that  the  meeting  should  be  held 
"  with  the  written  permission  of  a  white  licensed  ordained  preacher." 
1  * 


6 


A  NT  I -SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


We  think  now  we  have  fairly  proved  our  propositions,  that  the 
Colonization  Society  aims  to  expatriate  the  free  blacks  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  in  doing  this  it  has  in  view  the  security  of  slavery. 
Many  more  evidences  might  be  produced ;  but  let  candid  men  pon- 
der these.  Let  them  consider,  moreover,  how  much  respect  is  fairly 
due  to  a  society  whose  agents  say  one  thing  at  the  north,  and  an- 
other at  the  south  *  commend  slavery  in  Georgia,  and  condemn  it 
in  Massachusetts ;  profess  themselves  the  friends  of  the  negro  on 
one  side  of  the  line,  and  the  friends  of  the  negro's  oppressor  on  the 
other  side ;  and  use  unsuspecting  anti-slavery  feeling  to  advance 
the  ends  of  crafty  pro-slavery  principles.  Let  them  estimate  the 
feasibility  of  a  scheme  so  slow  that  in  thirty-six  years  it  transported 
to  Liberia  only  about  two  thirds  of  the  annual  increase  of  the  free 
black  population,  and  not  one  sixth  of  the  annual  increase  of  those 
in  bondage,  and  so  costly  that  Mr.  Webster's  famous  bid  of  two 
hundred  million  dollars  would  pay  not  quite  one  third  of  the  ex 
pense  of  carrying  it  out.  Let  them  ask  what  kind  of  civilization  is 
likely  to  be  diffused  in  Africa  by  slaves,  and  how  it  is  possible  that 
a  free,  enlightened  Christian  republic  can  be  established  by  people 
who  are  "  notoriously  ignorant,  degraded,  and  miserable ;  more 
addicted  to  crime,  and  vice,  and  dissolute  manners  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  United  States."  Let  them  wTeigh  well  these  facts  and 
reasonings )  and  if  they  hear  from  colonizationists,  as  they  will, 
6entiments  verbally  at  variance  with  the  propositions  maintained 
above,  let  them  regard  such  as  illustrations  of  the  duplicity,  the  sub- 
lime hypocrisy  and  treachery,  which  are  not  the  least  remarkable 
among  the  peculiarities  of  this  remarkable  society. 


PROTEST.  (1833.) 

We  the  undersigned,  observing  with  regret  that  the  American  Coloniza- 
tion Society  appears  to  be  gaining  some  adherents  in  this  country,  are  desi- 
rous to  express  our  opinions  respecting  it. 

Our  motive  and  excuse  for  thus  coming  forward  are  the  claims  which  the 
society  has  put  forth  to  anti-slavery  support.  These  claims  are,  in  our  opin- 
ion, wholly  groundless ;  and  we  feel  bound  to  affirm  that  our  deliberate 
judgment  and  conviction  are,  that  the  professions  made  by  the  Colonization 
Society,  of  promoting  the  abolition  of  slavery,  are  altogether  delusive. 

As  far  as  the  mere  colony  of  Liberia  is  concerned,  it  has,  no  doubt,  the 
advantages  of  other  trading  establishments.    In  this  sense  it  is  beneficial 


COLONIZATION. 


7 


both  to  Africa  and  America,  and  we  cordially  wish  it  well.  We  cannot, 
however,  refrain  from  expressing  our  strong  opinion  that  it  is  a  settlement 
of  which  the  United  States  ought  to  bear  the  whole  cost.  We  never  required 
of  that  country  to  assist  us  in  Sierra  Leone.  We  are  enormously  burdened 
by  our  own  connection  with  slavery ;  and  we  do  maintain  that  we  ought 
not  to  be  called  on  to  contribute  to  the  expenses  of  a  colony  which,  though 
no  doubt  comprising  some  advantages,  was  formed  chiefly  to  indulge  the 
prejudices  of  American  slaveholders,  and  which  is  regarded  with  aversion 
by  the  colored  population  of  the  United  States. 

With  regard  to  the  extinction  of  the  slave  trade,  we  apprehend  that 
Liberia,  however  good  the  intentions  of  its  supporters,  will  do  little  or  noth- 
ing towards  it  except  on  the  extent  of  its  own  territory.  The  only  effectual 
deathblow  to  the  accursed  traffic  will  be  a  destruction  of  slavery  throughout 
the  world.  To  the  destruction  of  slavery  throughout  the  world,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  say  that  we  believe  the  Colonization  Society  to  be  an  obstruction. 

Our  objections  to  it  are,  therefore,  briefly  these:  While  we  believe  its  pre- 
texts to  be  delusive,  we  are  convinced  that  its  real  effects  are  of  the  most 
dangerous  nature.  It  takes  its  root  from  a  cruel  prejudice  and  alienation 
in  the  whites  of  America  against  the  colored  people,  slave  or  free.  This 
being  its  source,  the  effects  are  what  might  be  expected  ;  that  it  fosters  and 
increases  the  spirit  of  caste,  already  so  unhappily  predominant ;  that  it 
widens  the  breach  between  the  two  races ;  exposes  the  colored  people  to 
great  practical  persecution,  in  order  to  force  them  to  emigrate  ;  and,  finally, 
is  calculated  to  swallow  up  and  divert  that  feeling  which  America,  as  a 
Christian  and  a  free  country,  cannot  but  entertain,  that  slavery  is  alike  in- 
compatible with  the  law  of  God  and  with  the  well  being  of  man,  whether 
the  enslaved  or  the  enslaver. 

On  these  grounds,  therefore,  and  while  we  acknowledge  the  colony  of 
Liberia,  or  any  other  colony  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  to  be  in  itself  a  good 
tiling,  we  must  be  understood  utterly  to  repudiate  the  principles  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society.  That  society  is,  in  our  estimation,  not 
deserving  the  countenance  of  the  British  public. 

Wm.  Wilberforce,  Scffield, 
Wm.  Smith,  ,     S.  Lushington,  M.  P., 

Zachary  Macaulay,  Thos.  Foweil  Buxton, 

Wm.  Evans,  M.  P.,  James  Cropper, 

Samuel  Gurnet,  William  Allen, 

George  Stephen,  Daniel  O'Connell,  M.  P. 


8 


ANTI- SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


TESTIMONY  OF  THOMAS  CLARKSON. 

This  lamented  British  philanthropist,  in  a  letter  addressed  to 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  in  1840.  explaining  in  what  manner  he 
became  deceived  in  regard  to  the  real  character  and  designs  of  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  says, — 

"  You  w?ll  see  in  this  narrative  my  reasons  for  patronizing  at  first  the 
American  Colonization  Society,  and  my  reasons,  also,  for  having  afterwards 
deserted  it.  I  left  it,  first,  because  it  was  entirely  impracticable.  This  is  a 
sufficient  reason  of  itself;  for  no  man  in  his  senses  would  pursue  a  plan 
which  he  thought  could  never  be  accomplished.  I  left  it,  secondly,  because 
I  thought  that  newly -emancipated  slaves  were  not  qualified  to  become  colo- 
nists in  Africa  to  any  good  purpose.  How  could  persons  be  sent  with  any 
propriety  to  civilize  others  wrho  wanted  civilizing  themselves  ?  Besides,  the 
advocates  for  the  Colonization  Society  in  America  had  no  right  to  send  the 
scum  of  their  population  to  Africa,  to  breed  a  moral  pestilence  there.  *  *  * 
If  the  society  did  not  take  these  people,  then  the  prospectus  offered  to  the 
public  had  no  meaning  in  it,  and  slavery  could  never,  according  to  its 
promises,  be  extinguished  in  the  United  States." 

Referring  to  the  speeches  made  by  the  friends  of  the  Colonization 
Society  in  different  states  of  the  Union,  he  adds,  — 

"It  appeared  from  these  speeches  that  the  most  violent  supporters  of  this 
society  were  planters  themselves,  and  that  the  speakers  did  not  hesitate  to 
hold  out  the  monstrous  and  hateful  proposition,  that  the  negroes  were  not 
men  and  women,  but  that  they  belonged  to  the  brute  creation.  It  wras  impos- 
sible to  read  these  speeches,  which  were  so  many  public  documents,  and  not 
perceive  that  the  persons  then  assembled  were  no  friends,  but  bitter  enemies, 
to  the  whole  African  race,  and  that  nothing  in  the  way  of  good  intentions  to- 
wards the  negro  could  be  expected  from  them.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to 
attempt  to  describe  what  my  feelings  were  upon  this  occasion.  I  will  only 
say  that  I  saw  the  scheme  —  shall  I  say  the  diabolical  scheme  ?  —  with  new 
eyes,  and  that  the  new  light  thus  thrown  upon  it,  added  to  the  two  argu- 
ments before  mentioned,  determined  me  to  wash  my  hands  clean  forever  of 
the  undertaking.    *    *  * 

"  I  have  now  given  you  my  reasons  "for  having  once  patronized  the  Colo- 
nization Society  and  then  deserted  it,  and  hope  you  will  consider  them 
satisfactory.     I  am,  dear  sir,  with  great  esteem, 

Very  truly  and  cordially  yours, 

THOMAS  CLARKSON." 


Published  for  gratuitous  distribution,  at  the  Office  of  the  American 
Anti-Slavery  Society,  No.  138  Nassau  Street,  New  York.  Also 
to  be  had  at  the  Anti- Slavery  Offices,  No.  21  Cornhill,  Boston,  and 
No.  31  North  Fifth  Street,  Philadelphia. 


ANTI-SLAVERY  TRACTS.    No.  5. 


THE  INTER-STATE  SLAVE  TRADE. 

BY  JOHN  G.  PALFREY. 

It  is  only  about  seventy  years  since  Clarkson,  Wilberforce,  and 
their  philanthropic  associates  began  to  move  the  British  legislature 
for  the  abolition  of  the  African  slave  trade.  Every  obstacle  which 
the  basest  cupidity'  could  contrive  was  placed  in  their  way.  The 
West  India  interest  worked  upon  the  commercial  interest,  and  both 
together  upon  the  manufacturing  interest,  and  all  three  upon  the 
landed  interest,  and  the  united  four  upon  the  ministry  and  Parlia- 
ment. Liverpool  and  Bristol,  with  millions  invested  in  the  nefari- 
ous business,  raised  as  holy  a  howl  as  New  York  did  four  years  ago 
when  the  Union  was  in  danger.  In  his  place  in  the  House  of  Lords, 
a  prince  of  the  blood  presumed  to  stigmatize  Wilberforce  and  his 
friends  as  "  either  fanatics  or  hypocrites."  He  lived  to  set  his  name 
as  king  to  the  immortal  act  which  abolished  slavery  from  the  Brit- 
ish dominions.  His  throne  might  have  been  overset  by  this  time 
if  he  had  stuck  to  the  doctrines  of  his  misguided  youth. 

In  monarchical  England  there  was  a  power  too  strong  for  princes 
or  ministers,  planters  or  spinners,  merchants  or  landed  gentlemen, 
or  all  of  them  together.  It  was  a  plain  common  sense,  informed  by 
a  moral  and  religious  sense,  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  the  British 
people.  By  dint  of  industrious  writing  and  talking  through  some 
five  and  twenty  years,  that  sentiment  got  its  peremptory  voice  heard 
in  Parliament ;  and  then  omnipotent  Parliament  made  known  to 
Liverpool  and  Bristol  merchant  that,  if  he  did  not  want  to  go  to 
Botany  Bay  for  fourteen  years,  he  must  let  alone  dealing  in  dark- 
colored  men  —  an  alternative  of  which  it  changed  the  terms  a  little,  a 
few  years  afterwards,  by  substituting  hanging  for  transportation.  And 
so  a  hitherto  creditable  business  fell  into  great  disesteem,  in  which 
condition  it  has  remained  in  England  to  this  day.  Not  a  decent 
man  is  known  to  have  been  hung  under  that  law.  The  decent  men 
took  note  of  it,  and  mended  their  manners  in  time. 

Plenty  of  fortunes  have  been  made  in  America  in  the  same  way ; 

(1) 


2 


ANTI- SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


and  seventy  years  ago  the  men  who  made  them  held  up  their  heads 
as  high  as  their  neighbors  on  exchanges  and  in  drawing  rooms. 
The  carriages  which  had  been  set  up  by  owners  and  masters  of 
slave  ships  might  be  seen  quite  lately.  Horrible  traditions,  of  no 
ancient  date,  are  still  current  at  Bristol  and  Newport.  But  the 
thing  has  had  its  day.  Since  1820,  if  a  man  be  caught  at  this  busi- 
ness, he  must  end  his  days  on  the  gallows  in  America  as  sureJy  as 
in  England.  And  so  wholesome  is  the  provision,  that  a  person  sus- 
pected of  dealing  in  Guinea  slaves  is  now  taboo  among  people  who 
are  choice  as  to  their  company  •  and  such  is  the  further  effect  of 
this  social  frown,  that  whoever  means  to  make  money,  and  at  the 
same  time  keep  on  fair  terms  with  the  circles,  finds  it  indispensable 
to  pursue  the  former  object  by  some  other  use  $f  his  talents  than 
that  of  trading  in  his  Maker's  image  in  ebony. 

So  far,  so  good.  But  what  remains  to  be  wondered  at  and  grieved 
over  is,  that  the  law  should  make  such  a  parade  of  its  own  incon- 
sistency. According  to  the  law,  it  is  not  the  act  that  makes  the  crime, 
but  the  place  where  the  act  is  committed.  If  an  American  deals 
in  slaves  on  the  Guinea  Coast,  and  we  can  lay  hands  on  him,  we 
hang  him,  not  only  without  scruple,  but  with  uncommon  satisfac- 
tion. But  nobody  has  a  right  to  touch  a  hair  of  his  head  for  carry- 
ing on  the  same  business  in  Virginia.  The  slaves  may  be  his  own 
children,  and  still  the  business  is  perfectly  legal,  and,  according  to 
the  local  opinion,  not  disreputable.  Judge  Washington,  at  his  slave 
barrack  overlooking  the  Potomac,  may  do  just  what  Mongo  John  does 
at  his  barracoon  on  the  Rio  Pongo,  and  yet  continue  to  be  a  much- 
considered  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  to 
have  as  good  estimation  with  his  neighbors  as  Mongo  John  with  his. 
If  Judge  Washington  had  conducted  himself  in  this  manner  on  the 
Rio  Pongo,  and  Mongo  John  at  Mount  Vernon,  the  law  would  have 
noosed  Judge  Washington,  while  John's  fellow-citizens  might  have 
seated  him  in  Congress  or  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court. 

Importation  from  abroad  being  a  hanging  business,  the  domestic 
trade  thrives  in  the  absence  of  competition.  Guinea  proper  being 
driven  out  of  the  market,  the  northern  slave  States,  and  especially 
Virginia,  become  the  American  Slave  Coast.  Virginia  breeds  men 
for  exportation  as  Vermont  breeds  horses.  The  thing  is  no  secret, 
and  the  breeders,  on  their  own  ground,  take  no  shame  to  themselves, 
though  our  late  minister,  Mr.  Stevenson,  was  annoyed  by  the  charge 
in  England,  and  denied  it.  "  The  six  thousand  slaves  which  Vir- 
ginia annually  sends  off  to  the  south  are  a  source  of  wealth  to  Vir- 


THE  INTER-STATE   SLAVE  TRADE. 


3 


ginia."  So  wrote,  in  1832,  Professor  Dew,  of  the  College  of  William 
and  Mary,  in  that  State.  "  Virginia,"  he  continued,  "  is  in  fact  a 
negro-raising  State  for  other  States."  "  Negroes,"  said  the  Virginia 
Enquirer  eight  years  ago,  "  have  become  the  only  reliable  staple  of 
the  tobacco-growing  sections  of  Virginia  —  the  only  reliable  means 
of  liquidating  debts,  foreign  and  domestic." 

The  African  slave  trade  was  made  a  felony  in  England  and  the 
United  States  because  humanity  in  those  nations  cried  out  against 
it  as  an  intolerable  abomination.  How  much  less  detestable  an 
abomination  is  the  Virginian  slave  trade  ? 

In  some  respects  it  is  less  horrible :  in  others  it  is  more  so. 

The  sufferings  of  slaves  in  the  "  middle  passage,"  or  sea  voyage, 
are  probably  not  quite  paralleled  in  their  transfer  from  one  slave 
State  to  another.  The  poor  creatures,  in  the  latter  case,  are  not  so 
crowded  together,  nor  put  to  such  distress  for  want  of  food,  water, 
and  air  as  when  stowed  in  bulk  between  the  decks  of  a  Captain 
Canot's  little  slave  schooner ;  though  any  one  who  has  seen  a  coffle 
of  them  on  their  journey,  the  men  in  pairs,  handcuffed  and  chained 
to  the  opposite  sides  of  an  iron  bar,  and  the  women  and  children, 
tied  to  each  other,  driven  behind  them  by  armed  brutes  on  horse- 
back, will  be  apt  to  think  that  it  is  only  by  comparison  with  some- 
thing still  more  wretched  if  their  misery  is  not  to  be  called  extreme. 
Here  is  a  picture  drawn  by  a  gentleman,  since  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
who,  when  he  came  to  covet  office,  was  fain  to  eat  his  wTords. 

"  The  sun  was  shining  out  very  hot,  and  in  turning  an  angle  of 
the  road,  we  encountered  the  following  group :  first  a  little  cart 
drawn  by  one  horse,  in  which  five  or  six  naked  black  children  were 
tumbled  like  pi*rs  together.  The  cart  had  no  covering,  and  they 
seemed  to  have  been  actually  broiled  to  sleep.  Behind  the  cart 
marched  three  black  women,  with  head,  neck,  and  breasts  uncov- 
ered, and  without  shoes  or  stockings.  Next  came  three  men  bare- 
headed, half  naked,  and  chained  together  with  an  ox  chain.  Last 
of  all  came  a  white  man  on  horseback,  carrying  pistols  in  his  belt, 
and  who,  as  we  passed  him,  had  the  impudence  to  look  us  in  the 
face  without  blushing.  I  should  like  to  see  him  hunted  ]jy  blood- 
hounds.7' 

The  original  of  this  sketch,  on  a  much  larger  scale,  is  a  familiar 
sight,  in  the  proper  season,  in  the  transit  states. 

Nor  as  to  mere  loss  of  life  is  the  excess  of  the  African  slave 
trade,  as  compared  with  the  American,  so  large  as  is  commonly  sup- 
posed.   The  rice,  cotton,  and  sugar  regions  are  notoriously  un- 


4 


ANTI- SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


healthy.  Persons  not  natives  do  not  pass  their  summers  in  those  re- 
gions if  they  can  help  it,  lest  their  first  summer  should  be  their 
last.  To  an  immigrant,  spending  his  first  summer  under  the*  scorch- 
ing sun  in  a  rice  ditch  or  a  cane  field,  a  black  skin  is  insufficient 
protection.  Accordingly,  acclimation  is  one  of  the  most  familiar 
elements  of  a  bargain  in  the  article.  The  advertisements  of  prime 
negroes  in  the  more  southerly  slave  States  constantly  describe  them 
as  acclimated.  Why  ?  Of  course  with  a  view  to  a  better  price. 
And  why  a  better  price  ?  Of  course  because  slaves  not  acclimated 
are  more  likely  to  die  on  the  buyer's  hands.  In  what  proportion 
more  likely  to  die?  A  writer  in  the  New  Orleans  Argus,  on  the  cul- 
tivation of  sugar,  says,  "  The  loss  by  death  in  bringing  slaves  from 
a  northern  climate,  which  our  planters  are  under  the  necessity  of 
doing,  is  not  less  than  twenty-five  per  cent."  It  is  likely  he  is 
not  far  from  right.  He  wrote  on  the  spot ;  there  was  no  occasion 
for  overstatement ;  and  such  results  of  experience,  affecting  the 
prices  current  of  a  great  article  of  merchandise,  are  just  as  accu- 
rately noted  and  determined  as  the  facts  that  fix  our  rates  of  marine 
and  life  insurance  are  noted  and  ciphered  out  by  us.  But  if  twen- 
ty-five per  cent,  is  the  actual  ratio  of  loss  of  life  in  the  internal  slave 
trade,  it  is  very  little,  if  at  all,  less  than  that  of  the  African  slave 
trade  used  to  be,  the  horrors  of  "  the  middle  passage  n  included. 
Sir  Thomas  Fowell  Buxton  computed  that  proportion  to  be  nearly 
one  third.    Newton  placed  it  at  one  quarter. 

But  supposing  a  less  amount  of  mortality  and  of  physical  suffer- 
ing, in  the  process  of  sending  to  market  the  home-made  commodity 
of  white  Colonel  Horseracer,  of  Albemarle,  than  takes  place  among 
the  prisoners  shipped  by  black  Prince  Bumbo  in  the  Bight  of  Be- 
nin, other  circumstances  tend  to  throw  the  balance  of  agony  on  the 
other  side.  Compared  with  the  Guinea  negro,  his  brother  in  Vir- 
ginia is  a  civilized  and  cultivated  person.  He  has  much  more  of 
local  attachment,  'of  love  for  wife,  children,  and  friends,  to  make 
him  wretched  when  he  is  torn  away  from  them,  or  they  from  him, 
never  to  see  or  hear  from  one  another  more.  Comparatively  he  has 
sensibility,  reflection,  and  forethought ;  he  can  look  backward  and 
forward,  and  each  view  brings  aggravations  to  his  woe.  Between 
the  two  sufferers  there  is  all  the  difference  as  to  mental  distress  that 
there  is  difference  in  the  respective  capacities  of  suffering  between 
a  human  being  scarcely  raised  above  brute  life  and  another  of  some 
culture  of  the  mind  and  affections.  Accordingly  a  person  who  will 
De  at  the  pains  may  collect  any  number  of  perfectly  well-authenti- 


THE  INTER-STATE  SLAVE  TRADE. 


5 


cated  instances  of  suicides  committed  under  these  circumstances, 
with  occasional  killing  of  children  by  their  parents  to  save  them 
from  the  dreaded  doom.  The  same  Secretary  of  the  Navy  before 
quoted  from  had  some  account  from  one  of  the  dealers  of  a  bad 
speculation  of  this  kind  in  a  young  mulatto  girl. 

"  I  swore  most  bitterly  I  was  only  to  take  her  to  her  mother's  at 

 ,  and  she  went  with  me,  though  she  seemed  to  doubt  me. 

But  when  she  discovered  that  we  were  out  of  the  State,  I  thought 
she  would  go  mad  ;  and  in  fact  the  next  night  she  drowned  herself 
in  the  river  close  by.    I  lost  a  good  five  hundred  dollars."  # 

The  weak  attempt  to  qualify  the  indignation  of  humanity  and 
Christianity  at  such  proceedings  by  a  denial  that  separations  of 
families  are  an  incident  of  slave  sales  is  too  preposterous  upon  its 
face  to  require  any  refutation.  How  likely  is  it  that  of  people  who 
can  make  up  their  minds  to  buy  and  sell  wives  and  husbands, 
'parents  and  children,  brothers,  sisters,  and  so  on,  any  considerable 
number  will  be  so  scrupulous  as  to  lose  a  good  bargain  rather  than 
hurt  the  feelings  of  the  article  bought  and  the  article  rejected?  But 
if  any  one  is  doubtful  on  this  point,  let  him  step  into  the  nearest 
reading  room  and  look  at  the  first  column  that  comes  in  his  way  of 
the  advertisements  daily  issued  in  the  southern  newspapers.  Or,  if 
more  convenient,  he  may  find  ample  specimens  of  them  in  various 
books  which  are  easily  accessible  ;  for  instance,  in  that  unanswered 
and  unanswerable  treatise,  Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe's  "  Key  to  Uncle 
Tom's  Cabin.''  Messrs.  Mayhew,  Bliss,  &  Co.,  of  New  Orleans, 
advertise  negroes  "  to  be  sold  separately  or  together  as  desired." 
Mr.  Benjamin  Davis,  of  Hamburg,  South  Carolina,  will  sell  "small 

*  Extracts  from  a  letter  to  the  writer  from  a  gentleman  in  Washington :  — 
"Williams  &  Co.,  of  this  city,  sold  a  woman  and  two  children  to  a  slave- 
dealing  house  in  Alexandria.    While  they  were  imprisoned,  she  murdered 
the  children,  and  the  purchaser  sued  the  vender  for  selling  him  a  vicious 
slave." 

"  Williams  &  Co.,  (I  think  —  perhaps  their  predecessors)  of  this  city,  bought 
a  mother  and  two  children  near  Rockville,  Maryland,  brought  them  here,  and 
put  them  in  their  own  prison  on  Seventh  Street  and  Maryland  Avenue.  The 
mother  murdered  her  two  children,  and  then  took  her  own  life.  My  authority 
was  a  dark  intimation  in  the  National  Intelligencer  that  a  horrid  deed  had 
occurred  in  the  city ;  and  this  was  explained  to  me  by  the  people  here  as  re- 
ferring to  this  murder  and  suicide.  No  one  here  ever  doubted  the  facts,  so  far 
as  I  have  information,  though  I  had  no  other  proof  than  that  stated." 

"Another  was  that  of  a  young  woman  who  threw  herself  from  the  long 
bridge.  The  story  has  been  poetically  told  by  Grace  Greenwood.  Another 
was  the  case  of  a  young  man  employed  in  a  restaurant  in  one  of  the  lower 
rooms  of  the  Capitol.  He  learned  that  his  master  had  sold  him  ;  he  fled,  was 
overtaken,  and  while  his  captors  were  preparing  the  irons,  he  took  a  knife  from 
his  pocket  and  cut  his  throat.    This  occurred  some  two  years  since." 


I 


6 


ANTI-SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


girls,  suitable  for  nurses,  and  several  small  boys;  without  their 
mothers."  Mr.  Benjamin  Little,  of  Memphis,  Tennessee,  has  for 
sale  "  likely  young  negroes.'7  Mr.  T.  B.  McClendon,  "  having  lo- 
cated in  Lynchburg,  (Virginia,)  is  giving  the  highest  cash  prices  for 
negroes  between  the  ages  of  ten  and  thirty  years."  Mr.  Seth  Wood- 
roof  "  continues  in  market  for  negroes  of  both  sexes,  between  the 
ages  of  ten  and  thirty  years."  Mr.  A.  A.  McLean,  General  Agent, 
Cherry  Street,  Nashville,  "  wants  to  purchase  immediately  twenty- 
five  likely  negroes,  male  and  female,  between  the  ages  of  fifteen 
and  twenty  years."  Mr.  S.  N.  Brown,  of  Montgomery,  Alabama, 
"has  now  on  hand,  of  his  own  selection  and  purchasing,  a  lot  of 
likely  young  negroes,  consisting  of  men,  boys,  and  women,  field 
hands,  and  superior  house  servants,"  &c.  Messrs.  Sanders  &  Fos- 
ter, of  the  same  place,  '-intend  to  keep  constantly  on  hand  a  large 
assortment  of  negroes,  comprising  every  description."  And  so  on, 
to  any  extent  to  which  the  inquirer  may  incline  to  go.  How  are- 
these  "  selections  "  and  "  assortments  "  made  ?  Nature  does  not 
make  them.  She  puts  young  and  old,  coachmen  and  housemaids, 
Children  and  their  mothers,  together  in  one  group,  and  binds  them 
so  with  strong  ties,  and  when  they  are  assorted  into  different  lots,  it 
is  not  without  much  laceration  of  heartstrings,  nor  without  great 
violence  to  nature,  and  impious  defiance  of  nature's  God.  The 
friends  so  separated  —  separated  by  force,  or  what  may  be  even 
more  cruel,  treacherously,  and  without  the  chance  of  a  word  of  fare- 
well—  are  parted  never  to  see  each  other  more  on  earth  —  the  one 
never  to  hear  of  the  others  more  unless  by  some  rare  accident, 
never  to  know  where  they  live  or  when  they  die.  The  Presbyterian 
synod  of  the  slave  State  of  Kentucky,  in  an  address  to  the  churches 
under  its  care,  before  synods  and  other  such  bodies  got  silenced, 
thus  condensed  its  observations  on  this  subject :  — 

"  Brothers  and  sisters,  parents  and  children,  husbands  and  wives, 
are  torn  asunder,  and  permitted  to  see  each  other  no  more.  These 
acts  are  daily  occurring  in  the  midst  of  us.  The  shrieks  and  the 
agony  often  witnessed  on  such  occasions  proclaim,  with  a  trumpet 
tongue,  the  iniquity  of  our  system.  There  is  not  a  neighborhood 
where  these  heart-rending  scenes  are  not  displayed  ;  there  is  not  a 
village  or  road  that  does  not  behold  the  sad  procession  of  manacled 
outcasts,  whose  mournful  countenances  tell  that  they  are  exiled  by 
force  from  all  that  their  hearts  hold  dear." 

It  would  be  very  interesting  to  know  by  what  figure  we  are  to 
multiply  the  bitter  distress  of  each  single  doom  of  this  kind,  in 


THE  INTER-STATE  SLAVE  TRADE. 


7 


order  to  get  at  the  sum  total  of  woe  ;  in  other  words,  to  know  what 
number  of  persons  are  subjects  of  the  inter-state  slave  trade.  It  has 
been  estimated  as  high  as  an  average  of  forty  thousand  annually ; 
and  there  appears  no  room  to  doubt  that  in  some  years,  as  in  1835 
and  1836,  this  estimate  was  below  the  reality.  An  easy  computation 
from  the  census  tables  (which,  unfortunately,  in  such  matters  can 
by  no  means  be  relied  upon  as  telling  the  whole  truth)  indicates 
the  number  to  be,  on  an  average,  something  over  twenty  thousand  a 
year.  The  decennial  ratio  of  increase  in  slaves  in  the  United  States 
for  fifty  years  preceding  1840  (and  of  course  preceding  the  admis- 
sion of  Texas)  was  as  follows,  viz.:  between  1790  and  1800,  27.9; 
between  1800  and  1810,33.4  ;  between  1810  and  1820,29.1;  be- 
tween 1820  and  1830,  30.61;  between  1830  and  1840,  23.8.  (See 
u  Report  of  the  Superintendent  of  the  Census  for  December  1, 
1852/*'  p.  153.)  The  average  of  these  decennial  ratios  is  28.90. 
Apply  it  to  the  slave-exporting  States  ;  viz.,  Delaware,  Maryland, 
Virginia,  the  twTo  Carolinas,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  with  the 
District  of  Columbia,  (for  we  will  leave  out  of  the  account  the  large 
number  of  transfers  which  undoubtedly  takes  place  between  states 
classed  respectively  as  exporting  and  importing,  as  from  Virginia  to 
South  Carolina,  and  from  Missouri  to  Mississippi.)  In  1840  the 
States  and  Territory  just  named  held  1,484,195  slaves.  Increasing  in 
the  ratio  of  28.96  per  cent,  in  ten  years,  they  should  have  had,  in 
1850,  1.914,017.  In  fact,  according  to  the  census,  they  had  only 
1,703,936,  leaving  a  difference  of  210,081,  or  something  more  than 
21,000  a  year,  to  be  accounted  for  by  emigration.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  number  of  slaves  in  the  slave-importing  States  —  viz.,  Georgia, 
Florida,  Alabama,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  and  Missouri 
—  in  1840  was  1,002,031.  Increasing  in  the  ratio  of  28.96  per  cent, 
in  ten  years,  their  number  in  1850  should  have  been  1,292,219  ;  the 
census  of  that  year,  however,  ascertained  it  to  be  1,429,544.  In 
other  words,  they  had  received  137,325,  or  13,732  each  year,  by  im- 
portation. But  the  exporting  States  had  sent  out  21,008  each  year. 
What  became  of  the  residue  of  72,756  —  the  annual  residue  of 
7,275  —  more  than  one  third  of  the  number  sold  out  of  the  northern 
slave  States  ?  Some  of  them  went  to  Texas  ;  by  no  means  the 
larger  part,  however  ;  for  Texas,  with  all  its  various  sources  of  sup- 
ply, importations  before  the  annexation,  importations  from  the  neigh- 
boring and  from  more  northerly  States,  and  from  natural  increase,  had 
only  53,346  slaves  in  1850.  To  say  that  Texas  received  one  third 
of  the  residue  in  question  would  be  to  allow  an  excessive  propor- 


8 


ANT  I -SLAVERY  TRACTS. 


tion.  Account  in  this  way  for  an  annual  average  of  2.276  in  the  ten 
years  from  1S40  to  1850;  (during  only  one  third  of  which  time  Texas 
was  in  our  possession,)  it  follows  that  an  annual  average  of  5,000, 
or  close  upon  one  quarter  of  the  whole  number  annually  exported 
from  the  slave-raising  States,  are  lost  sight  of  after  the  time  of  ex- 
portation. In  other  words,  they  perish  in  the  miseries  of  the  land 
"middle  passage/'  and  the  "  acclimation."' 

Such,  very  imperfectly  sketched,  and  with  a  total  omission  of 
some  material  views,  are  the  nature  and  extent  of  the  inter-state 
slave  trade.  Whatever  may  be  other  political  relations  of  slavery, 
the  remedy  for  the  unutterable  wickedness  of  this  traffic  is  in  the 
hands  of  that  Congress  of  the  United  States  to  which  the  free  States 
send  a  majority  of  members.  u  Congress,7'  says  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution, (Art.  1.  sec.  8,)  "shall  have  power  to  regulate  commerce 
with  foreign  nations,  and  among  the  several  States."  Under  the  au- 
thority given  in  the  former  clause.  Congress  made  the  African  slave 
trade  a  felony  •  the  latter  clause  gives  Congress  the  same  power  to 
deal  in  the  same  way  with  the  American  slave  trade.  It  has 
actually  legislated  under  the  authority  of  this  latter  clause.  The 
act  of  March  2,  1807,  prohibits  the  transportation  of  slaves  from  one 
State  to  another  in  vessels  of  less  than  forty  tons  burden.  An  ex- 
tension of  the  provisions  of  this  act  to  vessels  of  any  tonnage  what- 
ever would  put  a  stop  to  this  business  as  part  of  the  coasting  trade. 
The  constitution  further  provides  (Art.  1,  sec.  9)  that  "  the  migration 
or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States  now  existing 
shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited  by  the  Congress 
prior  to  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eight."  To  pro- 
vide that  importation  should  not  be  prohibited  before  1808  was  to 
provide  by  implication  that  it  might  be  prohibited  after  that  year; 
and  accordingly  the  federal  legislature  has  in  fact  prohibited  it 
since  1808  by  law.  The  constitutional  provision  respecting  migra- 
tion is  precisely  the  same.  Ever  since  1808  the  legislature  has  had 
the  constitutional  power  to  prohibit  the  migration  of  slaves  —  a 
power  which  would  long  ago  have  been  put  into  beneficent  exer- 
cise if  the  spirit  of  the  fathers  had  not  long  ago  died  out. 


Published  for  gratuitous  distribution,  at  the  Office  of  the  American 
Anti- Slavery  Society,  No.  138  Nassau  Street,  New  York.  Also 
to  be  had  at  the  Anti- Slavery  Offices,  No.  21  Cornhill,  Boston,  and 
No.  31  North  Fifth  Street,  Philadelphia. 


